Houston County EMTs add to safety measures during pandemic

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — The highly contagious U.K. COVID-19 variant has hit in Middle Georgia and ambulance staff remains vigilant ensuring patients arrive safely to hospitals.

Houston Healthcare’s emergency medical technicians handle about 100 calls a day. That number increased to about 150 since the pandemic started.

Advanced EMT for Houston Healthcare Joshua Seligman says after each transport, the ambulance cabin gets cleaned thoroughly.

With COVID-19 being easily transmitted by water droplets, the department added safety measures to the cleaning process.

“We changed our cleaning chemicals a little bit. We were using a peroxide bleached-based cleanser,” Seligman said. “We still use those but now we also have a stronger peroxide-based chemical and once we clean the entire truck with that. We now use a UV light sanitizing process, same as they use in operating theaters across the country.”

Seligman says EMT sanitizes everything in the cabin, including the stretcher and medical equipment. He says they use special materials to wipe down the items, then dispose of them in biohazard containers.

He describes the cabin as 6.5 feet in length and about 5 feet in width.

“We have N-95 mask, we have protective gowns, face shields, safety goggles, gloves. Even when it was difficult to find PPE, we were provided the PPE necessary to be able to protect ourselves and protect the patients,” said Seligman.

He estimates about 85 emergency medical service trucks in Houston are equipped with the same gear. 

According to Houston Healthcare, some EMTs contracted the virus last year. They were sent home to quarantine. But with the advent of the vaccine, most who work in the medical field have been vaccinated — including Seligman.