The new Coronavirus variant Omikron and its significantly higher infectivity is a concern for the emergency services. The question is how the service can be maintained even if there should be a massive increase in sick leave because of Omikron. In the case of professional rescue, a step-by-step plan comes into effect when the number of missions and failures increases. The professional fire brigade wants to limit contacts between the units in their ranks to the minimum necessary.
Vienna. “We already made it mandatory to wear FFP2 masks on the wards and in the vehicles in the fall,” said the spokesman for professional rescue, Daniel Melcher, to the APA. In addition, there is a very high vaccination rate of almost 90 percent and an extensive range of tests every day. “Employees are also encouraged to use this.” The key figures are then evaluated several times a day. If it can be seen that the number of deployments and / or the number of absenteeism due to sick leave is increasing, the step-by-step plan comes into force.
The Viennese professional fire brigade has also carried out Omikron considerations, but has already planned a lot for the corona pandemic in general. This also means that there must be a certain minimum manning level. It is quite possible that fire brigade employees have to cancel vacations due to sick leave, said professional fire brigade spokesman Christian Feiler. The training and further education does not take place across the guards, but only within the groups. As far as the size of the mission makes it possible, the individual groups have no contact with each other. Virus spreads should be kept as small as possible. There are also special duty rosters.
The Austrian police have also already planned to “ensure sustainability”, as stated in a statement by the Ministry of the Interior. The measures range from increased hygiene efforts, testing, contact reduction and, if necessary, to “focusing on core tasks or measures in the duty and leisure planning of civil servants”. This means, for example, the change in group sizes in day / night duty. “The measures will be implemented in stages, depending on the development of the situation,” said the Ministry of the Interior. The topmost premise is “the sustained, comprehensive security police care of the people in Austria, taking into account regional requirements”.
Source: Nachrichten
