News Worldwide impact of the novel coronavirus (covid-19)

[blackemerald1]

Which is still limiting their duties for no reason, and you are only basing that off one persons word. . . .

^Police are told what to do from their hierarchy. That hierarchy has a direct line in two directions.. to their subordinates
like @LuckiLee close relative. And their superiors who do actually tell them what to do. No one in emergency services makes up what they will or won't do randomly. There are always processes and procedures. Actually - well established and practiced procedures that are dynamic and updated daily.

Make no mistake, all emergency services will have been briefed about their responsibilities and the risks to the their members and ways to mitigate those risks. Same goes for all hospitals and the implementation of ways to mitigate risks to their role.

For instance, new procedures will be put in place to detect drink & drug driving.

Or, if you like, in the case of mental health patients who require police attendance, if a person's safety needs to be protected, and that includes the paramedics, they will attend. But only if needed. Decisions about who transports a person to a psych ward - will of course be made by command not individual police officers.

All emergency service organisation have a line of command.

And no, the public don't need to be told about ALL of the new processes and procedures that emergency service personnel have been briefed about. That's not helpful to the public or the services.

The police and the paramedics and the fire-brigade - indeed all of the emergency services do actually talk to each other.
Perhaps the subordinates on the ground are not privy to those high level discussions but they are happening. It's not all totally random and everyone to themselves.

I view it this way. This is panic right now. What it can quickly turn into is civil unrest. People out being insane. Police will be needed to keep the peace. Enforce the law. Fight the monsters that humans tend to turn into with mass panic. I think allocating job duties is important right now. Paramedics and hospital staff deal with the sick. Police keep the peace. If that makes sense.

^Yes it does make sense and yes you are on point. Police have a million other jobs to do too. They will not be shirking their responsibilities nor will hospital staff.

It's not about who is more important than another. If you are in one of these essential services then you will be required to turn up and do whatever you are told to do. That's the nature of the job. If for any reason, a person who belongs to one of these jobs, decides they don't want to do their job then I think they'll probably lose that job fairly rapidly and possibly face internal charges. Rightly so.

 

[blackemerald1]

she just has experience which is valid here.

^We all have experience here. We all have interesting things to contribute to the thread and the discussion.

 

[DharmaGirl]

I live in WA, as I've said before. I bought toilet paper here because it was on sale. There was plenty on the shelves. It was snowing so everyone in the higher elevations came down to stock up and there was STILL enough TP. I went next door to a drug store, and a woman was telling me how she had just come back from Costco and there was no TP. How would she find TP, with a note of hysteria. I told her-next door, or right here in this store. If you shop at Costco, they are sold out, perhaps, but if you go to your local store, you might find it's not a big deal. I was reading how people were freaking out about their chicken feed, and I went to the feed store today for oats, and they weren't sold out of anything (but oats, and the shipment is coming in Monday). I'm starting not to believe anything I hear, which is bad, because I want to hear facts to keep my hypervigilance under control.

This isn't some super deadly illness. It's a cold.

It could be deadly to me. I'm 60 and immune compromised. I have pulmonary hypertension. A cold wouldn't kill me. The flu could, and pneumonia, which is why I get the vaccines. I'm not concerned about the dying, I'm concerned about not getting my meds since things are shutting down. That's my biggest fear. I have food in the ground, eggs everyday, a stocked pantry, and I like isolating. I even have a batch of 6 rooster chicks I could harvest for meat, and 36 eggs in the incubator. I'm a retired RN, and it may be the same as a flu, but not a cold. There is no immunity from it yet.

 

[Freida]

Some agencies will allow their officers to do transports because it frees up the fire folks to go to the next call. But. That takes the officer away from their own job of wrangling crime, so it usually comes down to numbers.

Recently 24 firefighters in the Seattle area were put into isolation because they came into contact with corona via a patient. 24. That is a huge blow, because the number one question I used to get when people did a sit along in 911 was "where are all the cops and fire people!". They couldn't believe that we only had five officers in duty to patrol almost 200 square miles and that many of the fire agencies only have one or two people who are paid staff. The rest is made up of volunteers....who may or may not show up.

So take 24 out of the group and you have everyone working double and triple shifts, which leads to exhaustion, which leads to a lowered immune system and then they start getting sick too. Then there is no one left to respond to your 911 call

Lack of staffing is a huge problem for all first responder agencies. They try to cooperate but eventually we just run out of people. So ya -- telling them no more transports is a pretty common thing.

It doesn't mean that the front line staff is more or less important than the hospital staff. But first responders are way less equipped and trained to face it. Plus, they are already being run ragged by the stupid panicky people out there. Every time you see idiots in a fist fight over toilet paper officers have to go settle everyone down, interview everyone, wrote up reports, blah blah. As this crap escalates more and more situations like this will occur. And that's on top of the other calls they deal with in a non-pandemic it must be Tuesday workload.

They are exhausted already, because corona hits public safety just like it does all other groups of people. They get sick just like everyone else and that leads to working 16 and 18 hour shifts for weeks on end because there isn't anyone to replace them. It's a vicious cycle so the command staff has to come up with ways to lighten their load

 

[RubyBlue]

^We all have experience here. We all have interesting things to contribute to the thread and the discussion.

My point there is she is a nurse (on the front lines) actively caring for patients who have tested positive while being immunocompromised herself. If anyone is to be given a temporary change in roles, it should be someone who is responsible for caring for the known sick ESPECIALLY while sick themselves. She isn’t being sent home, isn’t being given any different duties. All because, she’s fine, she will be fine, the hospital she works at knows this. The rumor (because it’s literally one person happening to say it) that emergency personnel are having to change duties due to a virus is harmful at best. It’s only contributing to the unnecessary panic.

 

[Chris-duck]

Just to clarify.. I think the panic is causing the system to go to shit. Not individual people working whatever job.

I'm tired and angry in general today. So I'm gonna step out. And Im not arguing that my duties should change, they shouldn't. I knew my job when I signed up. Just common sense from the higher ups would be nice ?

 

[scout86]

My mechanic tells me this is ALWAYS his slow time of year, I just picked a good time to come in for an oil change. Stopped to get dog food on the way to my first appointment. There was dog food & now we're good for a month. There seemed to be fewer people than I expected, everyone was calm and polite.

Our governor declared a "peace time emergency" today. Caught the tail end of the press conference. "Science" was mentioned often. How cool is THAT?! He'd been on the phone with a well known local epidemiologist right before the press conference.

Things are obviously different in different places. I've got to say, I'm kind of impressed with how local governments and even things like sports team and orchestras are taking this seriously.

I've also gotten a couple requests for appointments since that other post. Oddly, pretty much all of them for after next week. (I did get a kind of snippy text from on unknown number, today, that began with "I know the coronavirus is shutting things down but...")

Could be worse! The power is likely to stay on. Communications are likely to stay up. No zombies......

 

[RubyBlue]

No zombies

To be fair we’ve already had that (bath salts ?) . . . and clowns at one point. . . and about a hundred other viruses over the years. All supposedly worse than the last.

 

[EveHarrington]

Just experienced inaccessibility to prescription meds due to a shortage.

I cannot stress enough, GET YOUR MEDS IN LARGER FILLS IF YOU CAN!

I still have bronchitis and a sinus infection stemming back to mid January. I was able to get a new antibiotic, but not the cough medicine I needed. Yes, it’s a medication directly related to the outbreak, but given that many drugs come from overseas, you have no idea if other drug shortages will happen, too.

The pharmacist and tech were both assholes about it. (There are no local county cases of COVID-19 around me.) They refused to call urgent care to get a different drug. The tech said “I’m leaving now” (it was 7:30) and the pharmacist said he wasn’t calling either because he got off at 8. (Urgent care was open until 8:30). I was hella pissed. They’d had these prescriptions since mid-afternoon. No, don’t bother doing your job or anything. ? I called Urgent care myself and they said they’d call in a different drug. I hope it’s available. I won’t know until tomorrow. If it’s not available I’m MAKING the damn pharmacist call himself so that he can directly confirm with the doctor which meds are actually available. So frustrating.

So I’m pretty much camping out in my apartment, don’t think I’ll be going out much at all. It sucks not being able to breathe well and this is the second year in a row that I’ve had lung/sinus issues that required two rounds of antibiotics. My mom says I probably got my grandfathers lungs as he suffered from chronic bronchitis.

Everything around here is shutting down, even our libraries. I’m just glad I got a bunch of good movies on Tuesday. I’ll be signing up for Netflix soon, too.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m too worried but then I’m like nah, you’ve had bronchitis and a sinus infection for two months. You have a right to be scared.

 

[blackemerald1]

My point there is she is a nurse (on the front lines) actively caring for patients who have tested positive while being immunocompromised herself. If anyone is to be given a temporary change in roles, it should be someone who is responsible for caring for the known sick ESPECIALLY while sick themselves. She isn’t being sent home, isn’t being given any different duties. All because, she’s fine, she will be fine, the hospital she works at knows this. The rumor (because it’s literally one person happening to say it) that emergency personnel are having to change duties due to a virus is harmful at best. It’s only contributing to the unnecessary panic.

^ So actually you have made two points there ^ @Annalyn78 .

I admire your loyalty to @Chris-duck and her particular situation however, as in all of us who have illnesses and jobs, not just emergency services, must advocate for ourselves wherever possible, with our managers and organisations.

I can easily understand how this would be very worrying to CD and I can appreciate her frustration.

@Chris-duck may have to make very difficult decisions about her own role in emergency services for now. Idk and neither do you! I wish her all the best whatever she does.

I can say for certain that CD's particular situation is happening all over the world with various emergency personnel. Most organisations are capable of working out where their personnel should be utilised and if, they're carrying an injury, where they can be most useful. Again, each organisation has to deal with their own personnel.

AS to your second point.

You saying that @LuckiLee is perpetuating a rumour is wrong. She is not feeding anyone's panic. Emergency departments across all of the services are changing their procedures due to the virus.

For example the possible implementation of new laws or old ones that we've never seen before (because we've not lived through a pandemic of this nature) - All due to this virus @Annalyn78 - and only because of the virus.

These procedures are implemented in varying stages depending upon a myriad of different things. But it's the progress of the disease in each community that normally dictates each stage and what the authorities decide to do. Pre-emptive strategies are also prioritised. Again, all due to the emergence of this virus.

Yes @Chris-duck - public disorder, panic is really hard to deal with even when you are fit and well. And yes, sometimes the hierarchy is slow to recognise a problem. I hope you get your own particular dilemma sorted.

you’ve had bronchitis and a sinus infection for two months. You have a right to be scared.

^That sucks Eve. I'm really sorry you're so unwell. :hug:

 

[Sideways]

Italy has been really knocked around by the virus. There's been around 5,000 deaths globally, and almost 1,300 of those are in Italy.

Puts into context I think what an amazing job of containing the virus China has done, assuming their stats are accurate.

Thoughts are with our Italian members in particular.

 

[Neverthesame]

To be fair we’ve already had that (bath salts ?)

If you're referring to that guy in LA suspected of being f'ed up on bath salts, who was shot dead after eating a homeless man?
His toxicology report stated he wasn't on bath salts, he was just f*cking nuts.