MHPS blare sirens in appreciation of health care workers
The Medicine Hat Police Service led a vehicle convoy around the hospital Monday and then Community Health Services on Tuesday, blaring their sirens to show their support for frontline health care workers.
“Other jurisdictions have done it and we have an excellent relationship with our local health care folks, so we thought maybe we should do the same,” MHPS chief Andy McGrogan said.
“Our guys are out and about, and they’re definitely in harm’s way, but when you think about the health care workers in that hospital, they’re dealing with who they know are very sick people.”
He said police work especially closely with ambulance drivers, who joined the MHPS in their cavalcade.
The MHPS’s relationship with health care professionals is a “brotherhood” with a “common goal” of keeping the public safe, says McGrogan.
The pandemic has revealed the heightened importance of many professions that are taken for granted, he said.
“They typically are confined during their workday to that site, but they do terrific work in the community, and I think thankless work. We can say that about a lot of populations right now,” he said, referring to grocery store employees.
McGrogan said the hospital convoy was about 20 minutes, with officers available for calls in that duration.
“We’re happy to do it. We’re not designating ourselves the local ‘Thank-You Committee’ for the city, but we do have a kindred relationship with our health care providers in our community, because we do work hand-in-hand at times.”
But the community at large deserves immense credit for mostly observing social distancing, says McGrogan.
“They need a big kudos, too, because it’s not easy to change your habits the way a lot of people have,” he said. “Stay vigilant. Stay at it.”