covid-19 (new corona virus)

[crofter]

...I figure that wearing a mask will help protect me from inadvertently touching my face after touching surfaces with the gloves....

Wear em if ya got em. 

We searched around here and came up with 3 masks of various types, saving in case someone gets sick. 

If you are wearing gloves, you should change them when they get soiled. In health care, they change gloves and wash hands, or use hand sanitizer between each patient.  -crofter

 

[crofter]

10-20% of 327 million would be...

Any volunteers?    Anybody?

Guy

I hope I'm not being volunteered. 
@maki, Dr visits here are rescheduled so if you did have some reason to make that appointment you will not get timely care.

-crofter

 

[maki2]

I would have no problem getting timely care at this point in time, even in Seattle, for any urgent care issue I might have. That may or may not change later on.

 

[tx2sturgis]

In my little burg, I dont think the local hospital even knows about it yet.

Only slightly kidding....but...their website has nothing about restrictions in place or cancelling of the big fundraiser at the local airport...

Of course, they may be too busy and/or the webmaster might be sick or dead...who knows....

 

[Qxxx]

So far, the state of Texas apparently does not have a "shutdown order from the governor", whereas ID, MT, CO, and MN just adopted these in the past day. As well, much of the midwest and southeast also don't have them. Best to either run to those places, or totally avoid them, according to yer perference. Looks like Louisiana decided Marti Gras celebrations were killing people, whereas Florida which is home to 7-million or so at-risk retirees isn't in the shutdown list either.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/states-shut-essential-businesses-map/story?id=69770806

 

[maki2]

I could not find a thermometer locally in any store I have visited, Amazon did not have anything affordable either. The online drugstore websites are out of them as well. So it was time to check on alternate sources, in this case pet stores, but they too were already sold out in Seattle.

 I did obtain a nice, accurate digital one on Chewy.com that is easy to use, it does come with a battery.  It is meant for use on pets as an axillary thermometer but it works just fine for an arm pit thermometer for humans. They still have some available if you too are in need of a thermometer. It only took two days after I ordered it for it to arrive.  https://www.chewy.com/vet-temp-rapid-flexible-digital-pet/dp

For us humans  place the tip against the deepest area of your arm pit and then lower your arm so it makes a tight seal against the tip. Leave it there for a minute, the digital ones are pretty quick but don't be in a rush, a few extra seconds gives a more reliable reading.  It will real one degree lower than an oral thermometer which for normal is usually stated as 98.6.

Advice, do not take your temperature when you first get up in the morning, it is sometimes below normal then. Wait a hour or two before you check it. Of course you don't check it right after you have been doing exercise activities as that too won't give an accurate baseline reading, again wait an hour or two.

 

[Qxxx]

Some home first aid kits contain thermometers.

 

[Ticklebellly]

What if you yourself got sick or injured and could not get into an urgent care facility or the emergency room .................

Apparently, in NY, Detroit, and Chicago, Triage in the ED will assign cases to full emergency care or to Comfort Care depending on an assessment of the likelyhood the patient will survive the presenting problem.    That's all presenting cases, not just those with the virus.   The pressure on doctors who have to make the decisions on who gets treatment or who does not, is tremendous.

 

[crofter]

@ticklebelly

That sounds awful, and unethical. Where did you hear that, can you post a link for us? Thanks. -crofter

 

[crofter]

I would have no problem getting timely care at this point in time, even in Seattle, for any urgent care issue I might have. That may or may not change later on.

I can't get cardiology. I would be pissed, but that would raise my blood pressure. Just stayin positive in southern AZ. 

-crofter

 

[Ticklebellly]

@ticklebelly

That sounds awful, and unethical. Where did you hear that, can you post a link for us? Thanks. -crofter

I'll find a link.   I saw the story on MSNBC.   The story included direct quotes from the directive issued to Health Providers.   The MSNBC panel were talking about the similar situation in Italy where a lack of resources resulted in the protocols of giving care and attention to those likely to survive and comfort to those left to die.
Unethical?   I don't see that, rather an Ethical Dilemma.   Not much different to the already established protocols of not providing Liver transplants to those who continue to drink alcohol.

 

[RVTravel]

Maybe this one. It is a worst case scenario similar to what is going on in Italy most likely, an overwhelmed healthcare system. It also should never be aired on television during a crisis, so it's political.

 

[WanderingRose]

Every morning and night on the major news networks, there are video interviews of health care professionals on the front lines who are describing PPE shortages and an influx of patients like they have never seen before.

They are not yet to a breaking point, but many are themselves getting sick, some are dying, and the worst is yet to come in NYC, Chicago, New Orleans.

12 nurses at University of Illinois Chicago hospital have just tested positive for the virus, hundreds of NYPD police officers have tested positive, there are sometimes 3 hour waits for ambulances in NYC, and there’s more.

It’s a really grim situation, and getting worse by the minute.

 

[WanderingRose]

It is a worst case scenario similar to what is going on in Italy most likely, an overwhelmed healthcare system. It also should never be aired on television during a crisis, so it's political.

I disagree that this should never be aired on TV during a crisis.

I believe it absolutely needs to be aired, that the public needs to get real life information about what is actually happening, rather than a sanitized version meant to keep the facts from us.

This kind of thing happened during the Vietnam War, when actual footage and live interviews countered what the top levels of government were trying to get Americans to believe.

It’s critical that we have facts.

 

[Stargazer]

I am retired from a county hospital in a major city. It was partially supported by property taxes. My property tax bill was $3000, about $125 of that was for the hospital district, not much. In a given year, 75% of the patients treated were non-funded, no medicare, no medicaid, no insurance at all. Being overwhelmed was an almost daily condition.

 

[jacqueg]

@ticklebelly

That sounds awful, and unethical. Where did you hear that, can you post a link for us? Thanks. -crofter

It's not unethical, it's called triage, it's standard medical practice around the world in an emergency, and some hospitals ARE facing emergencies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triage

 

[Ticklebellly]

Maybe this one. It is a worst case scenario similar to what is going on in Italy most likely, an overwhelmed healthcare system. It also should never be aired on television during a crisis, so it's political.

@crofter

The YouTube video displays the document detailing the protocol.   What a terrible situation for doctors to be in.

@RVTravel

Nothing political about it.    Factual information about the larger picture might motivate those not taking the situation seriously to start being concerned about their own safety.

 

[crofter]

Long time ago I was in the Emergency at a hospital. A nurse ran in the room and took all the stuff off me, dragged it all out of the room and shut the light and the door. At that point I realized I would not receive care at that hospital. I survived anyway, though they did not think I was worth caring for.   -crofter

 

[wayne49]

@ticklebelly

That sounds awful, and unethical. Where did you hear that, can you post a link for us? Thanks. -crofter

It's called triage and it is what is always practiced in any mass casualty event when medical resources would be overwhelmed.
Limited medical resources are directed to those that can be helped.

 

[nature lover]

Sad but true. Ask any battlefield medic. I was an EMT in a city hospital emergency room in my younger days. One of my sons is also an EMT and works for Life Lion the ambulance and chopper service at our Penn State Hershey Medical Center. I pray for all my children, but lately I pray more for him than the others.