Coronavirus Discussion Thread

SandpitMedic said:
I think that’s a bit hyperbolic, even the WHO estimates ~250-650k deaths a year from influenza... 100+M??? Come on, I understand you’re stressed and anxious about this. I also understand unchecked COVID could kill some more of us, but again, we have the ability to defeat the natural process of “survival of the fittest” to some degree. Which inflates our self significance and makes us hypersensitive and hyperemotional to events like this. The mass media doesn’t help either.

My point was not that we should “do nothing” or this isn’t affecting people. I have relatives and friends in the at-risk group too. My point was that this is nowhere in the ballpark of a mankind killer or nature’s worst pandemic and no where near the big one. And that’s it- it’s more of a philosophical outlook.
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1918 paninfluenza killed 50-100 million in a world with 25% of today's population. I don't think a similar number would be out of the ballpark for COVID-19 if no action was taken... but we are taking action so it won't be like that.

How bad will it be remains to be seen. I worry about people I care about, people in general, and about the economy.

I agree that we shouldn't panic and I know you weren't advocating inaction.
 
In metro Atlanta, my ED volume is down by about half. Patients we are seeing are sicker. Units starting to fill up. I heard some talk today of some only having a handful of ventilators left. And I will echo what some others have said: we’re seeing a ton of bounce backs who come into the ED initially, are discharged as presumptive COVID positives but who look well, and return 3-5 days significantly worse requiring admissions. Interesting thing is we haven’t been intubating a ton of COVID patients in the ER. The ones we have intubated have had COVID as some lesser component of their overall presentation.
 
Sounds like I'm gonna be spending the next couple of weeks/months in the adult ICUs
 
This was directed toward third world care providers but still applies.

"Our greatest concern, as it always has been, is ignorance. In some areas it took us decades to convince indigenous populations the mosquito was the cause of endemic illnesses. Presently we have tens of millions of people around the globe who do not understand this virus. People who will discount it as just another malady to be ignored that will eventually run it's course. There is no room for discussion here. Inevitably this ignorance will be the greatest cause of the mortality when all the numbers are in and added up."
 
MonkeyArrow said:
And I will echo what some others have said: we’re seeing a ton of bounce backs who come into the ED initially, are discharged as presumptive COVID positives but who look well, and return 3-5 days significantly worse requiring admissions.
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Not that this is anything to go by but, that is what happpened to both my wife and I. Our symptoms, aside from irritating lung congestion were minor. More or less just that congestion and no other significant symptoms. So there seems to be a threshold which makes this virus stealth. No big deal to suddenly on top of you. I'm wondering while pretty clueless here, if there is some quick and dirty pulmonary test that could ballpark susceptibility. Potential for this thing going off like a bomb. At the least establish a watch-for guideline??
 
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Peak said:
Sounds like I'm gonna be spending the next couple of weeks/months in the adult ICUs
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I wouldn't be surprised if I end up being sent to back up the ICU and/or makeshift COVID19 units at my hospital. Of course I easily could end up being assigned to doing work (literally) out front of the ED with COVID19/Suspected COVID19 patients that just need breathing tx and discharge.
 
SandpitMedic said:
You didn’t answer my question.
Are you an American citizen? And how did you get a great long term international gig in Thailand?
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Apologies. Not ignoring you just ... arseholes and alligators ring bells?

Sob story. Violins and/or crying towels
U.S. Citizen. My disability hit full on in 1997. Permanent non reversible, degenerative. Employer at that time managed to trash out most of my benefits as my wife cleaned out the bank accounts and filed for divorce. Decided life on minimum SSI in the US sucked I bailed to Asia. Made contacts with NGOs. Volunteered at first then given incurred expense compensation. 40 years in and around emergency services mostly in the boondocks of the US came in handy along with three med stints in third world. I let all certifications drop as they are all meaningless here.
Retired for good a few months ago. Still do on call work as a facilitator and maintain my connections to various NGOs throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. Presently getting ragged on big time to get back in the saddle.

Emails galore. Since this question is getting asked a few million times a day. "I feel sick. Do I have Corona virus?"
People, get real. If I say no and you do, then what? Get the test, and accompany your negative with studious meticulous thought out social distancing and disinfection.
 
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Influenza incidence dropped off to zero. Social distancing! Still COVID-19 cases
 
akflightmedic said:
Hospital and EMS calls way down here in Maine too. ER sent home several travelers as not needed, been cutting hours of staff or reassigning to other units.

12 beds of the 48 bed ER have been converted to COVID holding. Cardiac floor has converted 18 rooms to COVID inpatient ward.

Fun fun....we are only around 240 +/- confirmed cases here so far, however we have had a HUGE influx of New Yorkers, Massholes, and New Hampshirians flee their state to come to their second homes...of course potentially bringing in whatever they were fleeing. :p
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Same thing is happening in Minnesota. Our ambulance calls have dropped 75%. The hospitals are cutting staff like crazy. Just wondering how many hospitals will go out of business?
 
Nassau County NY put out communications with field triage flowcharts and info to encourage self-care and isolation of patients who don't need hospitalization. Yesterday, they also sent out the directive that field termination of all cardiac arrests (of medical origin) should be considered unless there is ROSC or imminent danger to providers if not transporting. Termination was always available but it is now being encouraged to avoid further overloading hospitals.

Also for the last few weeks, they have really centralized the EMS system notifications for alarms. Volunteers need to have staff guaranteed to be available or they're pulled from the matrix for that period (6-hour shifts). They've also stopped dual notification of the police department ambulance (single medic, driven by cop from scene to hospital) to cases where there is a staffed FD or hospital/private ambulance responding.
 
Can someone change the title so coronavirus is spelled correctly?
 
Also worth noting: it only took 25 pages for someone to notice it was misspelled. Ha! And they said we’d never progress.
 
VentMonkey said:
Also worth noting: it only took 25 pages for someone to notice it was misspelled. Ha! And they said we’d never progress.
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Pfff... I noticed a long time ago. Most of us did, right? I just didn't say anything cause the thread wasn't big at the time. Now I feel like this is our most active thread. o_O
 
It's a really good idea to misspell thread titles. Helps to ferret out the fussbudgets, nitpickers and trolls at a glance.

Simple solution that will assure a pandemic never gets out of the gate: At the first hint close all public venues that serve alcohol. That is, the locations where personal hygiene, inhibitions and intelligence of the participants is, generally speaking, very low.
 
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