Washington County Commissioners deliver 5 new ambulances to county fire departments

Commissioner Gil Almquist, center, delivers a new ambulance to the Hildale Fire Department, June 13, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Commission, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — First responders received a boost this week when the Washington County Commission delivered five new ambulances to fire departments in Enterprise, Santa-Clara-Ivins, Hildale and Hurricane Valley.

The Washington County Commission used CARES Act funds to purchase and distribute five new ambulances across the county, June 13, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Commission, St. George News

The ambulances were secured in 2020 with CARES Act funding, according to a news release from Washington County.

These ambulances became critical as a backup to the already existing ambulances due to the new restriction developed during the pandemic, which required each ambulance to be sanitized before the transport of another citizen.

“This will save lives across our county and provide critical backup for our emergency service providers,” Commissioner Gil Almquist said in the news release. “As we were dealing with the effects of the pandemic as a county commission, we felt it absolutely necessary to provide this important infrastructure to keep our citizens safe and healthy.

“This has been a long time coming. We recognized our residents’ need for more than one ambulance in various areas. With the COVID-19 protocol, an ambulance transporting an infected individual requires decontamination turn-around time. We want immediate backup availability to residents who may be in need in that area.”

The Washington County Commission used CARES Act funds to purchase and distribute five new ambulances across the county, June 13, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Commission, St. George News

The pandemic increased ambulance call volume and increased the time it takes for an ambulance to become available to respond to additional emergency callouts. For example, an ambulance transporting a patient with COVID-19 must be taken out of service for decontamination procedures prior to transporting another citizen. The decontamination process may take as long as one hour, according to the release.

Providing the public ambulance transport agencies with an additional front-line ambulance will allow them to respond to additional emergencies while their remaining ambulance is undergoing decontamination.

The Washington County Commission was instrumental in establishing the Washington County Medical Surge compact, which provides equipment along with the necessary inter-local agreements with other agencies and medical service providers to assist the county in preparation for a medical event(s) that exceed the county’s current medical treatment capacity.

 

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