Which is really hard to believe, considering we’re supposedly literate types therefore at least in theory capable of understanding basic math. Or science. But you’re right, they’re out there, and here too in CC land. Sigh.
I went to the market today. The governor asked everyone wear masks when out in public. I’d say maybe a third of the people had masks. Americans aren’t terribly good at following directions, are they?
Back channel communications on my nursing forum is showing some major optimism regarding success from some of the drug trials. This just makes my heart sing.
@Nrdsb4, any chatter on a timeline for them?
@cottontales, no, but if these results turn out to be legit, I see the government doing some kind of emergency executive order to get them going without the usual long term trials, etc.
For the first time in weeks, I’m feeling a little bit optimistic.
Our hospital in CT is getting steadily more crowded. Still had capacity as of Friday. Out of small N95s, but they have the regular size ones. Some non-Covid patients from NY were reportedly transferred to our hospital recently. And a number of people are approaching CT hospitals about labor and delivery.
I personally have an elderly patient (recently tested negative for COVID) who may not be able to get a needed procedure because it’s too high-risk.
As far as criticizing people for not wearing masks, where are they supposed to get them? And please don’t say make your own. Not all of us have the supplies or talents. If the governor says we should all wear masks, masks should be readily available for purchase.
You can make a mask out of a bandana and two rubber bands. Here:
I live in NY about an hour north of the city. I have no connection to the medical field, but I can tell you that my local Facebook pages are flooded with requests for mask sewers. I’ve been cutting up fabric to help a friend who has a sewing machine. Local people are collecting supplies (masks, snacks, support posters) to deliver to many local medical facilities. Others are group funding masks and other PPE for local hospitals. Grocery store employees are begging for people to sew masks. The demand is unending.
There are constant stories posted by people I know in the community of nurses and doctors working insane hours, seeing numerous daily deaths, getting COVID19 themselves, etc… One post, which is genuine, has gone all over the county to find a specific blood donor for a very sick young dad. I haven’t been looking at the news because it’s so depressing. Everyday the number of confirmed just in my small town seems to increase by about 15-20 positive cases a day. Hopefully the peak will hit next week.
I’m very sure my own son had COVID19 last week, and I think I may have had it too, but if so, it was very mild. I didn’t have a fever. I took my son to urgent care for a flu test (negative) after he developed a fever. He was also coughing, etc… The doctor was sure it was COVID19, but because he wasn’t that sick, he was unable to get a test. Here, at least early last week, you had to be hospitalized to get a test, or meet other strict criteria. There are/were not enough tests. We could have tried to get him tested over an hour away in another county, but no guarantee. He felt rotten though and just wanted to go to sleep. My son is right as rain now.
Needless to say, we’ve been strictly self isolating. Fingers crossed, no one else seems to have it in my house. But I feel a bit like I’m living in the Hunger Games. Gallows humor.
Honestly, the medical professionals are true heroes. I thank anyone here who is putting themselves in the line of fire by going to work at this time.
My husband teaches at a medical school in NYC. The doctors and nurses are reusing the N95 masks for five days. They are also look for volunteers to help check patients in.
One of our neighbors has bins on her porch with all the mask making materials and a bin for finished masks. They get distributed to NY hospitals. They use them as a secondary cover for the N95 masks that are being used way longer than they are supposed to be used.
I know about that. Am I the only one on this earth who doesn’t own a bandana?
My daughter is an emergency room RN at a very busy inner city hospital. Her ED has been divided into covid and non-covid sections. She has been issued one N95 mask that she keeps in a paper bag (sigh). The good thing is that many people with trivial complaints are staying home. Her ED is filled with either suspected covid cases or psych patients waiting for beds. The ER has set up tables at the front door with nurses for other less busy areas who take temps, check for covid symptoms upon entry.
DD also has ICU experience so that makes her pretty useful right now. She has been exposed without PPE by error (not hers) and has been tested already. Fortunately she tested negative and it only took 3 days. Truthfully she and most of her coworkers are mostly resigned to the fact that they will probably contract it at some point.
^When my mentally ill son was struggling last week, I told him that going to the hospital was not an option. We stayed in close touch with his doctor, who ended up increasing the dosage of one if the meds. Son is doing better now. I’m thankful we kept him out of the ER.
You can buy ones off Etsy.
Hospital RN here, and normally I work on a cardiac/critical care floor in a small Upper Midwest city. That floor, mostly due to negative air flow rooms as well as staff skill level has become the Covid or rule out Covid floor. Staff members are being cross trained to ICU for ventilator experience, with a great deal of on line learning as well as float time in ICU. Because we are far from peak, I have had a number of on call days recently, as have the rest of the staff. Eventually I expect to be quite busy, so am appreciating this time. On my floor we have been wondering where our typcial pneumonia and congestive heart failure patients have gone. We are affiliated with a larger hospital these days, so perhaps there. Or perhaps they are staying home. taking meds appropriately, and eating the low salt diet they need. Social distancing does seem to be working for the tail end of flu season. There are a a good number of Covid patients, and the ICU is full but not overly so. Yet.
There is a great deal of consternation about PPE though we have a supply at this time. We are supposed to be using N95 level masks only for aerosolizing procedures. on suspected or confirmed cases. Otherwise, face shield over surgical mask is the rule. We keep the N95 for each patient separately in a paper bag outside the room. It breaks my heart to hear that there are none available or that they need to be kept for days in other states.
Back in January I cared for a suspected case, and I changed and threw away an N95 and face shield each time I exited the room, perhaps 7 or maybe more times in my 8-9 hours with him. The waste now appalls me, though that was procedure for a suspected and unknown infection of that sort and am sure that is ideal practice. That we have changed to surgical masks with face shields to conserve N95s after years of hearing otherwise does not give staff confidence in current recommendations.
No, you are not.
@FlyMeToTheMoon If you look up measurements for bandana, then just cut up an old tshirt or cotton shirt or even flour cloth type tea towel. The way it is folded there aren’t really raw edges to worry about and would do the job.
I’m working on sewing some. Strangely enough for me, I doubt I have rubber bands so good I can sew.
Some cloth napkins might be big enough. I have a collection of bandanas because my younger son went through a period in high school where he thought wearing one was cool.
My husband’s a runner so he has a bunch.
Pharmacy clients reporting same thing. That combo of hydroxychloroquine with z-pack keeping patients who were short of breath out of hospitals. All anecdotal. But the prescribing docs are excited.
You have something made of fabric, however: an old cotton shirt, an old tshirt, a napkin, a dishtowel. You can cut that something in shape of a bandanna. In the case of the tshirt you can cut a long strip, and make the ends of the strip into ties.