How do healthcare workers feel about Coronavirus?

www.cnn.com...

To start, we need to consider protecting our older colleagues and those with certain preexisting medical conditions. We may even need to decide that only young and healthy doctors and nurses should be triaging and caring for these patients. I'm in. But is this discriminatory or putting too much risk on the young? I'm not sure.

This is an interesting article from CNN. I'm sure doctors, nurses and many medical care workers are going through scenarios in their heads.
Although I think this Dr. has good intentions, if tshtf, I don't think they will just be able to casually say old workers don't have to take care of corona-virus patients.

I would love to hear from any medical workers and how they feel. I have a nurse in the family and she is freaked out, and that freaks me out. One thing is for sure with this virus, it seems to be a lot more contagious. How are hospitals prepping for that? Everything from medical staff, to room cleaners? Are they getting ready?

a reply to: JAGStorm

I’m not worried about it. Hospitals are ready, staff are always ready, we've had precautions for this type of scenario for years now. Nothing is different from any other airborne illness.

As for older colleagues, idk do your job.If we get sick we get sick.

a reply to: JAGStorm

My SO is a nurse with 25 years of ER experience who volunteers to help set up medical response centers in hurricane areas and drives in on her day off during local mass casualty events. She is not freaked out and keeps poking fun at me* for getting freaked out, for what it's worth.

*In fairness, I am a lot more fragile, medically and psychologically then she is so she may have a point.

a reply to: JAGStorm

A hospital in Portland has already sent home 15 staff members for self-isolation for 2 weeks because they've been in contact with an infected patient.

Staffing is going to be an issue if this continues.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Ugh. My nurse mentioned the 3' rule yesterday and said they have plans in place to send exposed staff home if necessary. That seems like a recipe for empty doctors' offices and waiting rooms if worse comes to worst but what do I know?

Edit: to be clear, she was laughing when she said it (you should hear some of her jokes) and I didn't push the issue (much).

originally posted by: JAGStorm
One thing is for sure with this virus, it seems to be a lot more contagious.

I've seen this claim in numerous places, and I've yet to see anyone back it up. Every time I've seen health officials talking about the transmission of the disease, whether it's US officials or those in other countries, they say it's spread by droplets from sneezing or coughing, just like other viruses of this type, just like the flu is spread. It's not airborne, which would make it way more infectious. I've seen no data that suggestions it's highly or unusually infectious.

Does anyone have anything on this? Serious question.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
www.cnn.com...

To start, we need to consider protecting our older colleagues and those with certain preexisting medical conditions. We may even need to decide that only young and healthy doctors and nurses should be triaging and caring for these patients. I'm in. But is this discriminatory or putting too much risk on the young? I'm not sure.

This is an interesting article from CNN. I'm sure doctors, nurses and many medical care workers are going through scenarios in their heads.
Although I think this Dr. has good intentions, if tshtf, I don't think they will just be able to casually say old workers don't have to take care of corona-virus patients.

I would love to hear from any medical workers and how they feel. I have a nurse in the family and she is freaked out, and that freaks me out. One thing is for sure with this virus, it seems to be a lot more contagious. How are hospitals prepping for that? Everything from medical staff, to room cleaners? Are they getting ready?

I work in a South Carolina OR at a major hospital. Depending on how bad it gets....and whether they will give us some kind of hazard pay many of us are thinking about quitting when it hits. Our pay is not worth risking our lives or the lives of our family members.

a reply to: face23785

, they say it's spread by droplets from sneezing or coughing, just like other viruses of this type, just like the flu is spread. It's not airborne, which would make it way more infectious. I've seen no data that suggestions it's highly or unusually infectious.

You are confusing two things, rate of spread & manner of spread.

www.cdc.gov...

How easily a virus spreads from person-to-person can vary. Some viruses are highly contagious (spread easily), like measles, while other viruses do not spread as easily. Another factor is whether the spread is sustained.
The virus that causes COVID-19 seems to be spreading easily and sustainably in the community (“community spread”) in some affected geographic areas. Community spread means people have been infected with the virus in an area, including some who are not sure how or where they became infected.

I agree, everything is fine, carry on,

I am an ICU Doctor, The NHS isn't ready for the Coronavirus

...What is clear, is that as knowledge grows it has become evident that this has the potential to be one of the most fatal epidemics to have hit the world for a century, and it is rapidly increasing in prevalence in the UK.

Only eight out of 1,618 Doctors in the UK agreed the NHS was suitably prepared

The NHS is unprepared for the coronavirus and will be crippled if an outbreak takes hold in the UK, according to doctors. A survey of 1,618 medics in the UK found only eight of them (0.5 per cent) think the health service is prepared or capable of coping with the virus.

Treati ng the elderly would be sacrificed if Coronavirus overwhelms UK

Doctors have admitted that the most vulnerable patients could be denied critical care in a severe coronavirus outbreak, as they also warned that the UK is dangerously unequipped to deal with a pandemic. Under protocol dubbed 'Three Wise Men', senior medics at hospitals would need to decipher which patients to give care such as ventilators and beds to, with a focus on saving those most likely to recover.

Fun-bonus link (2012)

Top Doctors chilling claim: The NHS kills off 130,000 elderly patients every year

NHS doctors are prematurely ending the lives of thousands of elderly hospital patients because they are difficult to manage or to free up beds, a senior consultant claimed yesterday.

I have nothing to add, sorry, I think those links speak for themselves.

originally posted by: avgguy
a reply to: JAGStorm

I’m not worried about it. Hospitals are ready, staff are always ready, we've had precautions for this type of scenario for years now. Nothing is different from any other airborne illness.

As for older colleagues, idk do your job.If we get sick we get sick.

What area of healthcare do you work in?

My physician friends, Nurses, and Paramedics are all concerned, they claim the exact opposite

Their facilities being prepared for an influx of patients, muchless people who might have to stay for almost a month, rather than a week.......and not having enough PPE to go around in order to take care of those already infected, you cant just reuse it and move on to other patients

Theyre also concerned what that means if workers start coming down with it.......

a reply to: JAGStorm

First and foremost its important to declare who you are referring to by "healthcare workers". That ranges from people who could get paid more to bag groceries (Techs), fake nurses who work at clinics, wear silly scrubs, and brag about being a nurse on the weekend, then you have the real nurses, then come doctors, managers and directors (making above $150k/year)

So off the bat that's a wide range of people who all have different feelings about this based on their social status and education on the matter.

From my observations...

As you might expect... the low pay techs are mostly ignorant, scared little sheep. They did $h1tty work BEFORE the fears come in. Their main course of action to any challenge is usually just a blank stare.

Fake nurses are usually pretty girls who couldn't hack school or old ladies with too many dogs. Gossip and daytime television are paramount to this group. So needless to say they don't have a clue.

Then you have the real nurses... most of them are pretty chill and have seen this over and over again assuming you've been in the workforce longer than 4 years. Nothing new, and no signs really point to a big problem in the US. They are ready, and sick of hearing about people with preexisting conditions dying from flu like symptoms. Yeah, them and the other 10 to 15 thousand a year. Next.

Then you have doctors and directors who are, as usual, quite irritated with all the fear mongering and BS information going around. They have started making that clear in the circles that I run.


People are mostly dumb, and easy to scare... healthcare workers, at least the good ones... have known this for a long time. Your odds of getting sick from showing up at the hospital to get checked for Covid-19 are a lot higher than sitting around catching it from the TV.

a reply to: MerkabaTribeEntity

Those issues addressed sound like a broken system. We have had emerging illness guidelines and screening for at least the last 6 yrs in the hospital system that I work for.

a reply to: MerkabaTribeEntity

I have nothing to add, sorry, I think those links speak for themselves.

One of the things that upsets me so much is how people are saying "Oh it only kills old people with pre-existing conditions"
like they are some kind of expendable garbage. I happen to like my old people and want them around.
I know we all must die sometimes, but I just hate that thought that this possibly man made virus is the way that is going to take them...

a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

I manage an ambulatory department of the hospital. My system has about 36 hospitals not including ambulatory clinics. We have had emerging illness screening since 2014. Every patient has been getting screened since then for diseases like this one as well as other foreign illnesses. There is nothing really new that we are doing that hasn’t already been done for MERS, SARS, or Ebola.

a reply to: MarkOfTheV

First and foremost its important to declare who you are referring to by "healthcare workers".

I would be interested in hearing from all of them.

Secondly I think your summary of people in healthcare is very rude.
I'd give a janitor in a hospital the same respect I'd give the head doctor, but I guess that is just me.

originally posted by: 0zzymand0s
a reply to: DBCowboy

Ugh. My nurse mentioned the 3' rule yesterday and said they have plans in place to send exposed staff home if necessary. That seems like a recipe for empty doctors' offices and waiting rooms if worse comes to worst but what do I know?

Edit: to be clear, she was laughing when she said it (you should hear some of her jokes) and I didn't push the issue (much).

That 3' rule is a TB rule and everyone is talking about it so to your SO!

originally posted by: MarkOfTheV
a reply to: JAGStorm

First and foremost its important to declare who you are referring to by "healthcare workers". That ranges from people who could get paid more to bag groceries (Techs), fake nurses who work at clinics, wear silly scrubs, and brag about being a nurse on the weekend, then you have the real nurses, then come doctors, managers and directors (making above $150k/year)

So off the bat that's a wide range of people who all have different feelings about this based on their social status and education on the matter.

From my observations...

As you might expect... the low pay techs are mostly ignorant, scared little sheep. They did $h1tty work BEFORE the fears come in. Their main course of action to any challenge is usually just a blank stare.

Fake nurses are usually pretty girls who couldn't hack school or old ladies with too many dogs. Gossip and daytime television are paramount to this group. So needless to say they don't have a clue.

Then you have the real nurses... most of them are pretty chill and have seen this over and over again assuming you've been in the workforce longer than 4 years. Nothing new, and no signs really point to a big problem in the US. They are ready, and sick of hearing about people with preexisting conditions dying from flu like symptoms. Yeah, them and the other 10 to 15 thousand a year. Next.

Then you have doctors and directors who are, as usual, quite irritated with all the fear mongering and BS information going around. They have started making that clear in the circles that I run.


People are mostly dumb, and easy to scare... healthcare workers, at least the good ones... have known this for a long time. Your odds of getting sick from showing up at the hospital to get checked for Covid-19 are a lot higher than sitting around catching it from the TV.

That is a ridiculous statement. Surgical techs In the OR do ALL the hands on work while nurses sit in the corner and document # if they arent playing on their phones.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: face23785

, they say it's spread by droplets from sneezing or coughing, just like other viruses of this type, just like the flu is spread. It's not airborne, which would make it way more infectious. I've seen no data that suggestions it's highly or unusually infectious.

You are confusing two things, rate of spread & manner of spread.

www.cdc.gov...

How easily a virus spreads from person-to-person can vary. Some viruses are highly contagious (spread easily), like measles, while other viruses do not spread as easily. Another factor is whether the spread is sustained.
The virus that causes COVID-19 seems to be spreading easily and sustainably in the community (“community spread”) in some affected geographic areas. Community spread means people have been infected with the virus in an area, including some who are not sure how or where they became infected.

I don't see what's confusing. The manner of spread is obviously related to the rate at which it will spread. If the method by which the virus can spread is relatively common, like sneezing and coughing is, obviously that will increase the rate of spread. But that doesn't indicate it's any more infectious than other viruses that can spread through sneezing and coughing, such as flu.

So again, what backs up the claim that COVID-19 is unusually or highly infectious? What data backs that up? Honest question that no one seems able to answer. The only thing I've seen that could possibly back this up is that the virus might be able to survive on surfaces for 2 or 3 days, whereas flu can usually only survive about 1 day. Is there any other indication that the disease is more infectious than flu?

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: MerkabaTribeEntity

I have nothing to add, sorry, I think those links speak for themselves.

One of the things that upsets me so much is how people are saying "Oh it only kills old people with pre-existing conditions"
like they are some kind of expendable garbage.

I'm not sure that's what that means. When people say this, it's to stress that those are the people who need to be extra cautious. All others need to take a chill pill because there are lots of other things out there that are more likely to kill you that we don't pay this much attention to.

a reply to: JAGStorm

We take precautions always. Especially me. Blood, guts, fecal matter, urine..you name it, in our face..everyday

-EMT/1st Responder
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