Coronavirus Information
Posted by Nicole Lewis on Mar 15, 2020
AVAD is committed to the safety and health of our District and our volunteers!
I would like to take this opportunity to talk to you about the steps AVAD is taking to protect the health and safety of you, our neighbors, and our volunteers. We are currently seeing the State of Colorado embark on a “social distancing” campaign. The Board of Directors for AVAD realizes that this is one of the most effective ways that we can try to control the number of people that contract this virus. As such, the Board of Directors meeting for Monday, March 16, 2020 has been canceled. We are in the process of planning for a teleconference for the April 20, 2020 meeting if it is warranted. All instructions on how that will work will be posted on our website. It is also with a heavy heart that we will be canceling our Volunteer Appreciation Dinner scheduled for March 22, 2020. This event will be rescheduled for a later date.
Our ambulance Director is staying up to date on the quickly changing information distributed about the Covid-19 pandemic. We have taken the appropriate steps required to make sure if the ambulance is called to aid a person or persons who are potentially positive for the virus, our volunteers will be safe and protected and our patients well cared for. There will be some differences in the assessment and transport of persons that are suspected of having the virus. Currently, the recommendation is to do a more thorough screening of a patient at the scene to decide what the best care and treatment plan is. AVAD will be working closely with the physicians at the hospital to help make these decisions on a case by case basis. Rest assured, your health and well-being is our top priority. I am including information and a link below. This website has pertinent information on the Covid-19 virus. We understand that it is a stressful time for our little valley. We are confident that we will get through this together. Be kind to one another. Check on your neighbor. Help when and here you can. The world outside of our valley is going a bit crazy, we are better than that. Let’s show the rest of the world how you get through a crisis. We will do it Together, as a strong community!
Nicole Lewis
Board Chair, Arkansas Valley Ambulance District
AVAD is focusing its response to the coronavirus on maximizing safety to the community, our patients and our responders. To save lives, minimize suffering and protect the community, we are stepping up preparations for COVID-19, the disease caused by the current Novel coronavirus. “Flattening the curve” has become a shorthand way to emphasize the role of all of us in the community to slow the spread of COVID-19 so that the number of cases at any given time (the “peak” number of patients) is within the capacities of our healthcare system to treat. Some of the steps we’re taking include:
- Careful and frequent hand hygiene and increasing our normal regimen of disinfecting people, equipment, and vehicles
- Reducing in-person meetings, and emphasizing social distancing as situations dictate
- Using several levels of personal protective equipment (PPE) as needed, and based upon the circumstances
- Minimizing the number of responders and the amount of equipment potentially exposed
- Additional training specifically on COVID-19 and the use of specialized respirators and other protective equipment
- Increasing the use of online medical control (direct, pre-hospital consultation with physicians), and
- New protocols for treatment of patients with respiratory conditions.
It takes everyone to protect our community. One person’s “slip up” on precautions can expose an entire community. We all have a vital part to play and should be maximizing our precautions and taking aggressive action to contain and slow the virus. Protecting those who take care of our community, our responders and emergency service partners, is among our highest priorities. They need to remain ready to serve and protect you. If they get sick, not only is there no one to help you when you need it, it increases the chances of spreading disease through the community. So, we hope that, if we see you professionally, you’ll understand if we keep a little more distance than normal, insist that you take immediate measures to reduce the spread, and wear protective equipment that may seem unusual to you. Also, we want you to understand that most cases of COVID-19 do not require admission to, or treatment at, a hospital. The doctors may want COVID patients to be treated at home and through phone consultation with their primary care provider, instead of coming to the hospital.
More information on what you can do to protect yourself, your family, and your community is available from Fremont County Public Health at: 719-276-7450.
Let’s all pitch in and make our District the last one in Colorado to have coronavirus cases! We accept the challenge and hope you’ll join us!