California Agency Builds Coronavirus Decontamination Center

Law enforcement officers and other first responders in Santa Clara County, CA, who want to minimize any potential COVID-19 contamination they encounter in the field now have access to a station that will allow them to swiftly get clean and back to duty.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office has established a “Virus Response Team” that will maintain a tented area and adjacent shower trailer behind the agency’s training center at Hedding and San Pedro streets — across from the main jail and courthouse — for qualifying personnel to disinfect their gear and get cleaned up in about half an hour, the Mercury News reports.

“We know that if we can’t be safe, we can’t protect the public,” Sheriff Laurie Smith said Tuesday at a demonstration of the new clean-up station.

The COVID-19 risk to police, firefighters and other emergency workers has been evident since the pandemic reached the United States. At least 15 San Jose firefighters were confirmed to have been infected at some point, along with nine Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies , and one reserve officer and two full-time officers with San Jose police.