You Know What We're Not Hearing About the COVID-19 Pandemic?

[MineralMan]

We're not hearing about healthcare workers walking off the job or not showing up for work. Despite shortages of Personal Protective Equipment, they're staying at work, trying to save lives. That's pretty remarkable, really.

The same is true of first responders, who are sticking with their jobs, too, despite shortages of equipment they desperately need. They haven't left town or called in sick or quit their jobs.

We should thank them all profusely for their bravery and dedication.

Our government should be as dedicated as they are, and working day and night to help them get the resources they need. That should be JOB 1 for Congress and the White House right now. Sadly, it's not.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Much more dedicated than many Congressional members.

[MineralMan]

2. Hmm...I saw that several Republican Senators did not vote

yesterday. Every Democrat was there to vote, though.

[getagrip_already]

7. Nope, one was missing

Bernie skipped the vote. Something about a music video or some such conflict.

He is in vt and not in the senate.

[MineralMan]

8. Bernie is not a Democrat in the Senate.

He is only one in the primary race, where he had to be to run. In the Senate, he is listed as an Independent. However, this thread is not about that. It is about the dedication of healthcare workers and first responders.

[getagrip_already]

11. Touche...... well played my good person n/t

[iluvtennis]

40. + 1 nt.

[flying_wahini]

3. Years ago when I was a nurse you were fired and lost your license for walking off the job.

[MineralMan]

5. Yes, but those nurses and others have families, too.

Sometimes walking off a job is necessary, despite the penalties. Yet, we're not hearing about healthcare workers doing that. Not just nurses, but also Doctors, Technicians, LNAs and others who do a lot of the work in hospitals.

[Mr.Bill]

44. You also don't hear about soldiers in battle, firefighters, police, etc.

walking off the job. These occupations and others are much more than a job. I've been married to an RN for nearly 25 years. Her daughter is the fourth generation in the family to be a nurse. They are a different breed of people, and even with all the time I spend around them, I can't quite wrap my head around it.

[Mr.Bill]

32. Correct. It's called patient abandonment.

You don't leave the job until your relief arrives. My wife is a retired RN and there were a number of times she worked up to 40 hours straight. Only relief was an hour or two here and there by a supervisor.

[MuseRider]

42. Exactly, it is what you know you have to do

when you sign the paper work for employment as an RN and many of the other jobs. It is known that you do not go away no matter what is put in front of you, you work on it and heal it if you can or you help the person with it ease out of life. You never run.

[eilen]

54. Actually, as an RN, I have a duty to my patient

to notify my supervising nurse when I am impaired so they can relieve me. It is also against the law to have a nurse stay on duty longer than 16 hours in NY. There are a lot of nurses who are torn between staying on duty and working without proper safety equipment. Many do not feel that is an acceptable choice. Personally, I think I would work with what I have but don't know how long I would function without relief as I am over 50 and have limited reserves. I would not want to work impaired and thus be a danger. My corner of the planet is just starting to see the COVID patients in my hospital. Yesterday we had one confirmed and 19 rule outs. Today I go in to shadow on an inpatient unit (I work outpatient and in testing normally). I moved to my area about a year ago. After over 20 years at bedside, it was time to shift down. I honestly wish I could retire after this pandemic passes but I still have till I am 67 until I can qualify for Medicare/SS. My MIL is over 70 and she works per diem so I guess I should not complain (she has an adult son with disabilities and expenses or she would be retired). Her hospital in FL is run by Cleveland Center and they won't grant her a leave to stay out of this.

[Under The Radar]

4. When will we here how they are dropping due to illness creating shortages?

[MineralMan]

6. Before long, I expect.

[Eliot Rosewater]

9. And pharmacy workers and grocery store workers...

They risk their lives while McConnell has K street write the bill that will give half a trillion to billionaires...
GOP never puts lives first NEVER

[MineralMan]

21. Yes, and for low pay, besides.

[Mariana]

10. Some doctors in my area have closed their offices.

It's possible they and their staffs are working at the hospitals to help with the Coronavirus effort. I don't know.

[MineralMan]

13. They have shut down the multi-specialty clinic I go to.

The doctors are working at the hospitals. I assume other professionals there are, as well. The clinic is still staffed to some degree, but isn't accepting routine appointments. My wife's physical was cancelled, along with her mammogram. Until further notice.

[Sedona]

12. My daughter is an RN laid off by a lasik eye surgery center last week

All non emergency surgeries cancelled in Arizona.

She's not going anywhere near this shit show.

She's applying for gigs as a pharmacy tech.

She's totally over qualified and it's less money but at least she'll be in a safe place.

As her mom, I'm super grateful!

[URL=https://app.photobucket.com/u/LisaCea/p/37fd837f-637d-46e7-8350-d51e8499ab17][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[SKKY]

14. I work for the VA. Not only are providers NOT calling in sick or walking off the job...

...they offering to work overtime, some on a voluntary basis, to help get through this.

[MineralMan]

15. Brave, dedicated folks! Thank them for me!

[dalton99a]

16. Many hospitals are enlisting specialists to serve as backups to front-line primary care docs

in case they are incapacitated

They know more about medicine than Donald Trump.

[MineralMan]

17. Anybody knows better about anything than Donald Trump.

Trump is a Certified Ignoramus.

[Mr.Bill]

45. I'm a volunteer at my hospital

and I know more about the medical field than Trump. I manage the surgery waiting room, and if he tried to do my job he would be fired before his first hour was up.

[Ferrets are Cool]

18. "Sadly, it is not"

[MineralMan]

19. Very sadly.

[BamaRefugee]

20. YES. And I consider truck drivers and grocery store workers to now be FIRST RESPONDERS!

[MineralMan]

22. Indeed. They both serve essential needs.

Truck drivers sort of work from home, in a way. Since they're driving, they aren't encountering tons of people most of the time. I did hear that some places are denying them access to restrooms, though, at their destinations. Not a smart move, actually.

[AllyCat]

23. On conference call right now with management to figure out why we have no PPE

Thank goodness I have a union. We all should.

[MineralMan]

24. I hope that gets straightened out most quickly.

Shortages are real, but some places appear to be managing to find equipment better. Probably more dedicated searches by someone are turning up sources. If you just call your regular supplier and accept a "out of stock" from that supplier, you haven't finished your work. Imaginative procurers can usually find what they need somehow.

[AllyCat]

33. Yeah. They are saying they "trust their supply chain".

Our union disagrees.

[MineralMan]

38. That's typical of bureaucracies.

They have "arrangements" with their suppliers. No creativity at all.

[rickford66]

25. My son's GF works in the ER

She has to use the same mask for a patient all day. At least she gets a separate mask for each patient. The masks are put in paper bags with their name on them. She also said they only have two tests, so no one is getting a test. This upstate NY.

[MineralMan]

28. Conditions are terrible, I know. and the supply chain

has many missing links. I hope all of that gets straightened out soon. Thinks like Harbor Freight donating their entire stock of M95 masks to local hospitals is helping. Those masks are used in multiple industries, so there are supplies of them hidden in warehouses all over the place that nobody even knows about. Information is getting out there, though, so supplies should start turning up. Meanwhile, manufacturers have ramped up production and those new masks are hitting the distribution system

[AllyCat]

36. That is exaclty what we are doing at our facility only we do NOT change masks between patients.

We are really concerned about the health of our patients.

[eilen]

55. We have entire floors as negative pressure isolation units

so stay in PPE until we leave the floor. So if we have a break, we change in the tented off antechamber. We are also cleaning the patient's rooms every day. Housekeeping personnel are not allowed in those patient rooms.

[AllyCat]

56. Wow! That sounds like lots of extra staff needed.

[spanone]

26. K&R

[madaboutharry]

27. This is true,

but they are very worried and upset. They are worried they will get sick and that they will make their families sick.

There is a lot of anger about the lack of supplies.

[MineralMan]

29. I don't doubt that there is a great deal of anger out there.

I hope supplies start coming in very soon.

[IronLionZion]

30. Plenty of retirees have volunteered to go back to serve

Healthcare workers, truckers, retail workers, first responders, and many more don't have the luxury of working from home during this quarantine. They are working hard serving their country. It's time voters elect leaders who value these types of workers over the bankers and CEOs.

[MineralMan]

31. Yes. True patriots, doing what they can for society's sake.

Sadly, our current federal government has few such people in it, and NONE in leadership. The House is OK, but everything else is stupid and corrupt, following the lead of the Colluder-in-Chief.

[warmfeet]

34. Excellent post. K & R

[KY_EnviroGuy]

35. And our mailman, delivery services and utility workers.

So many dedicated people for whom to be thankful.

Nowhere near the risk healthcare and emergency workers face but can't imagine being a mailperson touching the mail and mailboxes of hundreds of homes each day, not knowing if any of it is contaminated.

Thanks for posting, MM. We need reminding often of all the people and things for which we need to humble ourselves and show gratitude.

Our thanks will touch their hearts and make a hard day a little easier.......

[MineralMan]

37. Yes, mail carriers, too.

In fact, i'm waiting for mine right now. I'm expecting a check from one of my clients, which I will drive to the bank at once. I will thank him or her, personally, when the mail comes. I've been thanking a lot of people lately for doing their job and sticking with it.

[Nululu]

39. Leave a note. Stay 6' away

A reminder to practice distancing when possible.

Want to check on a neighbor or thank your postal worker? Leave a note.

Don't knock on people's doors to see if they're okay, text or phone. You may spread the virus to vulnerable people by approaching them.

The reports from China that 6/7 infections were spread by people with few or no symptoms.

[Pantagruel]

41. Remarkable courage coming out of Italy

Gv't put out a call for retired med personnel to come back into service. They hoped for 300 , got 7000.
And it's come at great cost:

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v74jwm/italian-doctors-are-coming-out-of-retirement-to-treat-coronavirus-and-dying

[MFGsunny]

43. Poignant and powerful exemplars.

May we have the grace, wisdom and humility to become our better angels.

[MustLoveBeagles]

46. K&R

[Locrian]

47. "We should thank them all profusely for their bravery and dedication"

Agreed - but ALSO we need to remember when when we have the opportunity to support them (unions, wages, health care etc) that we damn sure make ourselves heard for them.

[bubbazero]

48. THIS DEDICATION BY THESE FOLKS RUNS DEEP

Just one story to show how deep it runs. Had mom (84, Parkinsons, other health issues ) in hospital at end of Feb. Blood pressure crash, held several days for observation--found minor asymptomatic stroke--she's home fine. While there, and with no sleep, mom became a little disorientated after 48 hrs. Unfortunately, her room was right next to nurses station, she's got great hearing, was head nurse of large clinic for over 25 yrs. When hearing nurses orders come in, or call buttons if both nurses busy, she would try and get up to help!--she can't thankfully, but would still try. When floor nurses discovered this,(thru me), they took to stopping during slow times to talk "shop" Soon mom was voluntarily helping to train CMA's and CNA's from local nurses college on floor. When I took her home, multiple nurses stopped to say goodbye, and invite her back as volunteer training patient at the school if she had time. The commitment of these people is INSPIRING

[Warpy]

49. They went on strike in Hong Kong

when Carrie Lamm gave all the masks and other gear to the cops and government workers instead of to the hospitals, kind of like Big Dummy cornering the market to give them to ICE.

I was one of the nurses who worked through the AIDS crisis when nobody knew how it was being spread. We didn't have enough equipment to go around, either, but we did our best and showed up and most of us realized it was blood and body fluids before the CDC guidelines came out and acted accordingly.

Things have to be very desperate for health care workers to walk out, although there are always a few individuals who will. Most will remain in the trenches while they are able to do their jobs.

[MineralMan]

50. Thank you!!

[McCamy Taylor]

51. No PPE at my (government ) job.

Just got my COVID test. 5 days before my symptoms started a patient walked in with COVID symptoms and I did not have PPE (except the mask I bought myself online and have been reusing) Told by administration that I HAD to see the patient even though I did not have PPE. And this is a government job. If I now test positive for COVID, I blame the administrator who told me "Do what you are told not what is best in your opinion as a doctor."

[Liberty Belle]

52. 29 San Diego firefighters are now quarantined after 1 tested positive for COVID-19.

[napi21]

53. I went to a Dr. appt l;ast Friday & they were taking your temp when you came in at the reception

desk. When I saw the Doc. I asked how they were doing contending with the virus. After some discussion, she said "That's
what we signed up for. All docs & nurses take n oath where they promise to take care of all the sick, do no harm, even if it risks our wellbeing."

[Permanut]

57. Oregon just went into lockdown..

All businesses closed except those deemed essential. I work for a grocery store so still working, grateful to have a mask to wear. Employer published a note we carry designating us as part of the "essential infrastructure", for use if anyone questions our being out on the streets. We call it our "hall pass" - a term I haven't heard for at least fifty years.