Press Release: Ridgecrest Regional Hospital’s Liberty Ambulance Deployed to Bakersfield Skilled Nursing Facility

Thursday, May 28, 2020, RIDGECREST, Calif. – At the request of Kern County Public Health paramedics and EMTs from Liberty Ambulance, owned and operated by Ridgecrest Regional Hospital (RRH), have been deployed to a skilled nursing facility in Bakersfield for an initial period of 10 – 15 days to provide care to the patients and relieve staff that had been working long hours during the pandemic.

The Bakersfield skilled nursing facility has seen a significant number of patients test positive for COVID-19, with several employees being quarantined. The facility has been divided into two sections. One section for patients that have tested positive for COVID-19 and the other section is reserved for patients that have not. The five-person Liberty team is responsible for the non-positive section and is working with a charge nurse, who is on duty 24/7 managing the entire facility.

“As we approach the first week of EMS deployment to Bakersfield the results and feedback has been positive, said Fred Hawkins EMS Administrator / COO Liberty Ambulance. “We are providing RNs, Paramedics and EMTs daily from 7 PM - 7 AM. Liberty Ambulance is working closely with the Kern County Public Health Department on the protection and safety of the paramedics, RNs and EMTs involved, who are being closely monitored. Isolated changing rooms are in place and while on-duty and all EMS staff wear special personal protective equipment and clothing. We are grateful to Kern County Public Health for making a daily delivery of PPE supplies available to us. The use of EMS personnel such as EMTs, RNs and paramedics to care for COVID-19 patients in confined facilities is growing and Liberty Ambulance is one of a few agencies in California responding to fill this void. I'm very happy with the performance of our EMS staff and the manner my management team went to work on this project.”

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