Lambton Public Health (LPH) is highlighting the work of Ainsworth Technical after a team worked long hours in order to make sure appointments were kept at a vaccination clinic.
With rising temperatures and high humidity levels, no air conditioning at Point Edward Arena’s vaccination clinic posed a major problem.
LPH said over 1,000 COVID-19 vaccines are administered at the clinic each day. Without air conditioning, there was a "very real risk" that at least 1,000 appointments would need to be cancelled.
"If one day of the clinic is cancelled it creates a slew of technical, process and other public health related issues," read a release from LPH.
Ainsworth Technical Supervisor Zach Holmes and a crew of five workers provided a temporary solution until a permanent system was in place. He said work started the night of June 10 so that the clinic could run the next day.
"They did an awesome job. They worked long hours in the heat," he said. "Then we came in on Saturday and we rearranged the ductwork to make the arena more secure."
Holmes said the crew does work at a lot of refineries and, in many cases, are doing emergency repairs so for them, "it was just another job".
"It feels good that other people were able to benefit from it," he said. "It's a good feeling to help out like that."
In a statement, Holmes said Ainsworth techs have been working non-stop across the country to make sure HVAC systems are working at various care and medical facilities during the pandemic.