COVID-19

Gatineau police use local arena as decontamination station

In an effort to continue reducing the spread of COVID-19, the Service de Police de la Ville de Gatineau (SPVG) has re-opened the Jean-Paul-Sabourin Arena in Hull and turned it into a decontamination centre for police officers. According to SPVG spokesperson Renée-Anne St-Amant, the centre was opened as a space for officers who may have been in contact with the virus during their daily operations to sanitize their gear and their vehicles. “If they did an intervention with someone who had COVID-19 or who showed or may have shown symptoms, they come here automatically,” she said.

St-Amant explained that the purpose of opening the centre was to reassure officers that their safety is paramount and to assure the population that the SPVG is taking the coronavirus very seriously. Noting that the centre has already been used, St-Amant said that all officers have been informed how to properly conduct the decontamination procedure. “We’re taking all the necessary measures so that our officers aren’t sick and also that we don’t contaminate citizens,” she said.

In the case where officers believe they’ve been in contact with someone with COVID-19, they drive their vehicle to the arena’s Zamboni entrance, where a road sergeant opens the door. Once the vehicle enters the building, the road sergeant closes the door behind the officer, who remains in his or her vehicle. The road sergeant then leaves the premises while the officer conducts the decontamination procedure. “They will be alone,” St-Amant said. “There won’t be anyone else.”

St-Amant said the maximum number of people in the building at the same time is two, since officers sometimes patrol in pairs. The officer then drives the vehicle to one of the six parking spots delimited by orange cones spread across nearly half of the arena’s playing surface. Once parked, the officer gathers his or her personal items (equipment and documents) and drops them off at a welcome table before sanitizing his or her hands. They will then place a sign reading ‘to decontaminate’ on their vehicle’s windshield to indicate that the car needs a thorough cleaning.

Officers then walk off the playing surface into a hallway towards the dressing rooms, where they wash their hands for 20 seconds in a specified bathroom. Then they approach a table where they unload their firearms into an orange apparatus before going into one of two decontamination rooms. In the decontamination room, the officer is required to thoroughly clean a decontamination apparatus before stripping down to undergarments and throwing the clothes and equipment inside the machine for a 12-minute sanitizing cycle. “It completely sterilizes the equipment,” St-Amant said.

Firearms, ammunition and pepper spray are stored in a black bin and hand-washed by the officer. During the decontamination cycle, the officer enters one of the dressing rooms to take a shower. After showering, the officer places a ‘to decontaminate’ sign on the dressing room door to notify that the room needs a complete deep cleaning.

Once everything is complete, the officer gathers his or her equipment, places the car keys in a designated box and notifies the supervisor that he or she has competed the process. Vehicles are cleaned separately in rigourous fashion, St-Amand said.

St-Amant noted that the entire process takes around 45 minutes to complete.