In recent weeks, breakdown volumes recorded by our AA Rescue team have continued to climb as issues such as flat batteries become more prevalent due to the reduced levels of car use across the country. In order to protect the health and well-being of both our patrols and members, we have introduced a number of steps to help minimise the risk of spreading the virus.
Safety Steps to Protect Our Patrols
Among the changes we have introduced to protect our patrols and our members, while continuing to deliver the same great AA Rescue service are:
- All our patrols have been provided with additional Personal Protective Equipment supplies to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. These include face shields, hand sanitiser, protective gloves which are disposed of after each use, and sanitising wipes to minimise the risk of contamination of any of your car’s surfaces. As well as the use of PPE, our patrols have also added a ‘keep a safe distance’ badge to their high visibility vest reminding members to stay at least 2 metres away while we attend to a vehicle.
- Upon reporting a breakdown by phone or via the AA App, all members will be asked a few brief questions relating to COVID-19 in order to alert our patrols if a member they are due to attend to has been in contact with a confirmed or potential COVID-19 case. With this information,our patrols can contact the member when they are en-route and, if necessary, advise the member to leave the keys of the vehicle in a safe location which our patrol can access without having to come into contact with any member of the household.
- Once our patrol has completed their work they will wipe down all touch-points in the car with sanitising wipes to reduce the risk of contamination. After this, the keys will be returned to where the member originally left them and the member called by phone (if a socially-distanced conversation is not safe) to advise of our findings and any necessary further action In the event that the vehicle must be towed to a garage for further repair, our patrol will wipe down the steering wheel, gear know and any touch-points in the car with sanitising wipes before proceeding.
- These steps allow us to continue to care for our members while also minimising direct contact to ensure the safety of our patrols and members.
- Finally, if it is safe to do so, any paperwork to be completed is carried out in front of the member, whilst maintaining social distancing. Our patrols will advise each member of what is being recorded on the form, but to minimise contact we will not seek a signature for our members at this time.
These steps will help us to continue to attend to our members when needed, while reducing the risk of spreading the virus. We would like to thank all our AA Members for their co-operation in regards to these steps.
