Each of the Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa units has been obligated to rent a swab-bus, which is an ambulance with personnel trained in collecting samples. Currently, paramedics visit employees to collect second swab samples. 

– We have decided to take matters in our own hands. Working together with the Silesian voivode and the Voivodship Sanitary-Epidemiological Station, we have organized a campaign, through which we are able to reach our employees faster. We are currently collecting second swab samples, which will decide whether employees will be allowed to come back to work. This is what is the most important here, because time is of essence now. We want the employees to come back to work as soon as possible – said Artur Dyczko, Vice-President of the JSW Management Board for Technical and Operational Matters and head of the JSW Crisis Management Team. 

Medical personnel collects swab samples also from families of the miners, whose tests came out positive. The swab-buses leave as they receive the list of individuals that need to be tested. The list is prepared by the Voivodship Sanitary-Epidemiological Station.

– We go to the patient, put on appropriate protective suits and masks, which prevent us from bringing the infection into our families – explains Mateusz Kaczmarek, a paramedic. – The test itself is not painful, but slightly unpleasant, because we need to collect a swab sample from the lower part of a throat. Then we secure the sample, deliver it to the lab and get the result in a few days – Kaczmarek adds. 

The paramedics in swab-buses have their hands full. Each day they are able to collect up to several hundred swab samples. – The work does not require great physical effort, but mentally we are heavily weighed down and tired, because we are exposed to the risk of infection. We are trying to protect ourselves as much as we can, but the mental burden is what’s the most difficult – notes Piotr Piotrowicz, a paramedic. On the other hand, Mateusz Kaczmarek claims that the coronavirus-related stress has decreased slightly. – The patients are looking forward to our visits and feel really relieved when we come. When the ambulance arrives, they know their wait is over. Sometimes, they have to wait for several days in great stress – the paramedic says. 

So far, 2300 swab tests have been collected from Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa employees.