PHILLIPSTON – First responders throughout the country find themselves coming up with new ways to sanitize their equipment as they respond to working in the new world created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and firefighter/EMTs in Phillipston are no exception. Because the virus’ means of transmission haven’t been completely nailed down, steps must be taken to ensure the illness isn’t spread due to incomplete sanitizing, particularly of ambulances.
“Through Facebook and Youtube, we’ve seen what other people are doing,” said Phllipston Fire Capt. John Seamon Jr.
“This is something John brought to my attention,” said Fire Chief Jeffrey Parker. “He thought originally about how to bring it here, and then we just kind of worked together on how we were going to implement it.”
“Basically, what we do is we use just a regular automotive spray paint gun,” said Seamon. “We connect it to a regulator, and different kinds of cleaning solutions can be used to mist into the crevasses and tight spots that wipes can’t necessarily get into. If you think about it, all the door crevasses and the hinges — you can’t really get a wet wipe into there and clean it. If the organism gets into really tight spaces, you can’t really get into them to clean it.”
The device is used for cleaning both the interior and exterior of ambulances and other first-response vehicles. He said care needs to be taken in how the solution is applied, depending on the kind of cleaning solution being employed.
Seamon demonstrated the futility of using wipes to clean in the tight spots, before turning to the misting device.
“By using this,” he said, “you can see how you can get everything coated, everything covered with a solution, and you don’t necessarily have to follow through by wiping it. We spray the interior, the exterior, the cabinets, all the equipment we use as well. Some of the equipment, you have to be more careful about spraying it with water and stuff, but this works really well.”
Seamon and Parker took a moment to remove the gurney from the ambulance to demonstrate how that heavily used piece of equipment is cleaned to reduce the risk of transmitting any bacterial or viral diseases, including coronavirus.
He also demonstrated how the paint gun/anti-viral mister can be connected to a SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) unit so it can be employed when firefighter/EMTs are away from the fire station.
“We need to clean up as soon as we transport someone to the emergency room,” Seamon said. “We really shouldn’t wait until getting back to the station. So, before we head back from the hospital, we wipe down as much of the interior as possible. And now we can mist the interior as well because, by using a SCBA unit, the spray gun becomes a portable piece of equipment.”
“Because we’re responding to calls in such an unprecedented time, departments everywhere are doing a lot of improvising,” he said. “This is one case where improvisation worked really well.”