Santa Fe College Provides PPE to Area First Responders

Press release from Santa Fe College

Although Santa Fe College’s Northwest Campus and all SF centers across Alachua and Bradford counties remain predominantly empty as faculty and staff provide student services virtually, the college is still an active member of the community, even providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to regional partners who had requested assistance.

College officials in Academic Affairs, Health Sciences, the Institute for Public Safety, and the Santa Fe College Police Department have been working with local health departments to make sure emergency responders and health care workers have supplies needed to protect themselves and the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The college has shared some PPE items including gowns, gloves, and N95 and other masks. Even supplies of hand sanitizer that are currently not needed at college facilities while instruction goes online have been donated. In the last week alone, the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County, North Florida Regional Medical Center, The Village at Gainesville, Oak Hammock, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, Union County first responders, and the Florida Highway Patrol have all received some PPE items from the college.

Normally, these agencies are where students in SF’s Health Science and Public Safety programs receive some of the crucial hands-on training needed to be effective first responders. As the demands for the services of these agencies increased and their stock of PPE items dwindled, college leadership felt it was vital to share these critical supplies with area partners.

Santa Fe College will continue to provide all instruction online through the spring term, with much of the summer schedule also provided virtually. Employees at the college will be working mostly from home until at least Friday, May 1. College leadership will continue to take guidance from the Centers of Disease Control as well as state and local health agencies before making any decisions concerning students, faculty or staff returning to any SF property.