Keeping volunteers safe
Parshall Ambulance makes changes in light of pandemic
By Jerry W. Kram
The Parshall Ambulance Service has made changes to keep its volunteers safe during the COVID-19 outbreak and still provide vital medical services to the area.
Ambulance service manager Ken Rensch said the ambulance service was keeping a full paid crew on in Parshall. In normal time, a paramedic or advanced EMT would be stationed in Parshall. Now a paramedic and a EMT or EMR will be in Parshall at all times. Also, the cab of the ambulances will now be considered an isolated area, so the drivers – who are volunteers – won’t be exiting the vehicle.
“That’s another reason we wound up putting another paid member on at this time,” Rensch said. “We usually depend on a volunteer to drive and act as a second crew member. A lot of times we get a second volunteers to act as a third crew member. The state said that if you have three crew, you are potentially exposing three people now.”
Rencsh said that in New York, one of the hardest hit states, one in five ambulance workers have been lost to the virus or quarantine after exposure.
“We want to avoid that as much as possible,” he said. “The more people who are exposed to the virus the more risk we have to our volunteers.”
When the ambulance responds to a call, Rensch said that in order to limit possible exposure to the virus, only one will enter the patient’s home. If they patient can walk, they will be asked to walk to the ambulance instead of being carried on a gurney.
Rensch said there is a move statewide to monitor patients with flu-like symptoms at home if possible. Both the Stanley hospital and Trinity Hospital in Minot both have nurses dedicated to monitoring those patients.
