Important Notice: COVID19

Date: March 17, 2020

Subject: COVID 19 Notice

To:  Our Communities

Morongo Basin Ambulance is working diligently to ensure that we maintain a state of readiness to serve our communities both now and in the event the COVID-19 virus begins to spread in our area. All our EMTs, Paramedics and Registered Nurses are well trained and equipped to handle all patients including those exhibiting signs of a COVID-19 infection. At the time of the letter, there are two confirmed case in San Bernardino County and zero confirmed cases within the response area of Morongo Basin Ambulance.

We continue to work with our pre-hospital and hospital partners to ensure that plans are in place to handle the possibility of increased patient volumes and to handle those patients who may require isolation precautions. Currently, MBA crews have sufficient Personal Protective Equipment including gloves, masks and gowns, to protect healthcare providers and patients in the event they are needed. All crews have received additional training on policies and protocols specific to the COVID-19 virus. While our crews will be on the front lines of this event, MBA has taken additional precautions to support the nation-wide effort to limit the spread of the virus. We ask the public to please take note of the below:

1. All Morongo Basin Ambulance stations will be closed to the public immediately and until further notice. This includes our Headquarters-Station 1 in Joshua Tree. We ask that if you need to get ahold of administrative, operations or billing staff, to please call 760-366-8474 and we will be happy to assist you.
2. All Morongo Basin Ambulance American Heart Association courses are suspended until further notice. Those who have already scheduled and paid for courses will be issued a full refund. Please check our website for updates as to when we will be resuming classes.
3. Morongo Basin Ambulance’s management team and Board of Directors have cancelled all unnecessary activities and meetings at our stations until further notice. Additionally, administrative staff will be working augmented hours and from remote sites for the time being.

We take these steps out of an abundance of caution so that in the event of spread in our communities, our staff is healthy and prepared to handle the EMS needs of the public. Our staff would like to the remind everyone that there is no need to panic. The Morongo Basin is home to some of the most caring and generous people, now is the time to be smart, band together and overcome this challenge as a community.

Yours in Service,

Matthew Welsch
Operations Chief
Morongo Basin Ambulance