Haverford stays ahead of COVID-19 with temperature checks
HAVERFORD » Add a temperature check to the start of the day. That is what employees at Haverford Township are doing to stay ahead of the coronavirus.
Each morning, as employees from the sanitation and public works departments arrive, they take a quick drive through the township garage where officials ask about their health, then take a temperature scan.
Employees who work in the township building are checked there, as are police, who are checked three times during their shift.
The temperature checks were organized by Jim McCans, director of paramedics, who said it has been successful in instilling confidence in the workforce and reinforces the message that officials are doing everything to stay safe.
“It reassures everybody. It reassures us that everybody is safe,” McCans said. “People forget though when you talk about essential personnel, firefighters, police, EMS sanitation is important stuff, there will be other big health problems if this isn’t handled. So the fact that these guys step up day after day we’ve got to keep these guys safe.”
Crews in Haverford know the illness is serious. One public works employee contracted the virus in early March, before the testing was begun. The employee, a mechanic, is recuperating at home.
In addition to the temperature checks, public works crews have changed work assignments to promote social distancing.
“Typically we had three guys in a trash truck, now the driver is in the truck himself,” said Public Works Director Dan Mariani. “The two throwers are separated in another vehicle. They drive out to the route, leave the vehicle on the street, and stay the whole day on the back of the truck. When they are done, the driver brings them back to the car so there is never three guys in a cab.”
Mariani said crews had embraced the testing, which has not turned up any positive cases. One employee was sent home with a high fever, which dropped after two days after which he was allowed to return to work.
When they first began in midMarch, they were standing outside in the cold and rain when someone came up with the idea to use the drive-through bay to at least make it warmer while they performed the 74 tests.
The one issue they must deal with is the defroster, which blows warm air on their faces, sometimes giving a false high reading. When a employee has a high reading, they get them out of the car for a few minutes and retake the temperature to see if it comes down.
In addition to the temperature check, each employees is asked if they have been near anyone who is sick or if they have flu-like symptoms.
“The township has been very good about if an employee is not feeling well they should stay home,” McCans said.
McCans said it’s important that everybody gets on board with precautions that will lead us out of the pandemic. “When everybody gets on board with this, wearing face masks, that we have to keep ourselves clean because we are protecting each other as well. Somebody could have a belief that this is all a joke or a conspiracy but when you go to the hospital and see all the people on ventilators, it’s horrible.”