Ambulance services in Swift Current have been forced to change following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While still serving the community as a first responder, Swift Current’s ambulance service say they are taking precautions against the virus as they make their rounds.

While also noting that they have received many thanks from the community for their service, the local ambulance service run by Hutch Ambulance, says they are following government orders while keeping the community safe.

Cam Hutchison, the EMS chief with Hutch Ambulance, detailed how they have changed their response.

“Our operations changed quite a bit. Now we have to wear personal protective equipment for all calls, that means we have to wear safety glasses, goggles, masks or procedural masks, and gloves for every call.”

“When we go into a house we send one medic in at a time. They'll do pre-screening of a patient and the patient is required to wear face masks as well so that's a huge change from before the pandemic.”

He adds that those regulations are required by the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the Ministry of Health.

The service says they are stocked up on protective equipment to prepare them for the pandemic.

When asked if an emergency situation would cause concerns for that method of patient care, Hutchison said that it isn't business as usual in a pandemic, and explained the importance of the new way of responding to a situation.

“They say that there’s no emergency in a pandemic… It may take a couple extra seconds for our medics to get into the house, but just know that they’re going to provide the best care that they can once they arrive at the scene.”

He said that while they do not administer tests, on-site screening and dispatcher questions are used to determine if a patient is systematic.

Ways that you can help the service serve the community are being honest with paramedics on symptoms and travel history, as well as limiting the number of people that come in contact with paramedics during their response.

Hutchison added that they have received quite a lot of support from the community since COVID-19’s spread began ramping up.

“We’ve had people dropping off food, Pizza Hut dropped off pizzas, some people dropped off pastries, different things like that. It’s very much appreciated by our guys.”

“The guys are working really hard right now, it’s a lot of added stress to the system. We appreciate the people that are in our communities' social distancing and taking the proper precautions to make sure that they’re healthy as well as our guys are healthy.”