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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Andrew Brown

Fire and ambulance services won't be interrupted due to coronavirus

ESA crews have out in place new measures in the wake of coronavirus. Picture: Elesa Kurtz

ACT frontline emergency workers have put in new measures to protect themselves in the wake of the coronavirus.

But the head of the ACT Emergency Services Agency Georgeina Whelan said services would not be interrupted as a result of COVID-19.

"Paramedics and firefighters will continue to support the community, working 24/7 to respond to calls for help,' Ms Whelan said.

"What has changed are the processes and procedures in how we respond to manage the spread of COVID-19."

ACT Fire and Rescue crews will continue to work alongside paramedics in incidents, but will not treat any patients with flu-like symptoms in a bid to limit potential exposure.

Routine cleaning of fire vehicles and stations will be carried out.

SES and fire crews have been told to limit social interactions including training programs and community access to stations.

Community events and engagements have been postponed or rescheduled.

Ms Whelan said ambulance crews already had protocols in place to deal with infectious diseases and it would be business as usual.

Routine cleaning of ambulances will be carried out following potential exposure to coronavirus.

"We are closely following the advice from ACT Health and will continue to adapt our processes to ensure the safety of our community and personnel," Ms Whelan said.

"ESA staff and volunteers are a well-trained, highly competent and flexible workforce that is prepared to adapt to emergency situations to ensure the safety of the community remains a priority."

It comes as ACT police outlined it would also be scaling back community engagements and school visits in the wake of coronavirus.

READ MORE:

ACT and federal police are awaiting urgent advice where officers are potentially exposed to coronavirus and may inadvertently pass it on to colleagues.

An emergency teleconference between police union leaders across Australia raised a number of unresolved issues.

Uniformed police in Canberra have been instructed not to wear face masks in public during patrols.

ACT chief police officer Ray Johnson said its workforce was flexible and it was still business as normal for officers.

"Police members are trained, and extremely competent, in responding and operating in environments where information and conditions change rapidly," he said.

"Police officers can't just work from home. They still need to be in police stations, and patrolling the streets to provide support and to reassure the community. That is our job and we're committed to it."

Police stations across the ACT remain open.

We have removed our paywall from our stories about the coronavirus. This is a rapidly changing situation and we want to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. If you're looking to stay up to date on COVID-19, you can also sign up for our twice-daily digest here. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.

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