[ad_1]
From: TT
Published:
1 of 3 | Photo: Janerik Henriksson / TT
Pär Lundh, external officer and group manager at Farsta, cleans the police car, something that should be done after each session to reduce the risk of spreading the infection.
Corona pandemic or not: criminals must be arrested, maintain order and help people in need. And then it is not always possible to keep your distance, as a police officer.
“We are forced to be in situations all the time and we know that we are an extremely vulnerable professional group,” says police Pär Lundh.
In the garage below the Farsta police station, south of Stockholm, it looks like a store with equipment that is not like before. Two tables are filled with bottles of rubbing alcohol, detergent, gloves, mouth guards, and prepackaged cleaning kits. All prepared to protect the police officers who go to the external service and to protect the many citizens who are during each session.
At least as concerned as police assistant Anna Höglund is about being infected by the coronavirus, she is about to become something of a “super-spreader.”
– I don’t want to become a spreader because we move between different groups and people in society. We will do our best not to start spreading it between people, since you know a lot of people, only during one work shift, he says.
Clean the car
Police are a socially critical activity. This means that it should work even in the event of a serious crisis, such as many employees falling ill at the same time. The Corona pandemic partially changed the employment situation for Anna Hoglund and her colleagues at the main office. After each pass, the police car should be cleaned. They are thinking of maintaining the distance to meeting people.
But it is not always possible to fully protect yourself as a police officer, as when you have to go fast and you have to physically intervene against a person. Or when the police have to help a person in need.
– If you go into cardiac arrest, for example when you go to an apartment and care for people, then you may feel like “I don’t know anything about this person”. If you want to arrest someone, you can still have a dialogue, and many then say if they had a cough or fever, says Anna Höglund.
“Blood and body fluids”
On occasions when the police know that they are going to meet a person infected with corona, they wear special protective equipment, including a protective mask. In addition, it is subsequently passed to a decontamination station, where a structured undressing is carried out and clothes and a car are washed.
– If you know that a person has covid, you have had time to prepare. So we protect ourselves and clean up afterwards, says Pär Lundh, external officer and group manager in the local Farsta police area.
– It is worse when you have treated a person very closely, we may have received blood and body fluids, and then you find out that this person had been diagnosed with an infection. It is more difficult to handle, continues.
Coronahotar
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been reports of several cases where police officers have been threatened with corona by people they have intervened against and have coughed up. Anna Höglund has also heard such threats on several occasions. But it also happens that people cautiously warn that they have symptoms.
– They apologize and say that just so you know, I’ve been coughing the last few days. Show some kind of solidarity in society, says Pär Lundh.
– And some who have had a crown and have antibodies have said it, so there are both, adds Anna Höglund.
Both Anna Höglund and Pär Lundh give a very calm impression when it comes to the risk of infection. It may have to do with the fact that cops are used to dealing with dangerous situations, it’s all about the profession.
– When people escape, it is expected to enter. People call us for a reason, because they want help. And I’ve never experienced someone who doesn’t want to move on at anything, but we do our job anyway, says Pär Lundh.
You can choose not to participate
Now the spread of the infection is increasing again and because there are plans already made within the police, according to Kristin Sylten, deputy chief of staff regarding the crown in the Stockholm region.
Should many police officers become ill in the same workplace, staff can be redirected or strengthened between police regions.
– If it becomes really critical, it is about prioritizing and we have them clear. We planned for it to get worse, says Kristin Sylten.
At an uncertain time, it is important to security that police operations are seen to be working, he believes.
– The pandemic means a concern in society and therefore it is important that we contribute to creating security, that we are there. That our planning is good and we’re ready.
Published:
