Coronavirus COVID-19

[kalm]

So i've told you all about my sister. I was talking to her last night and her hospital is full. Last night there were 90 people in the ER waiting to go to a room. ICU is full. They are laying on the floors b/c there isn't any place to go. They are only turning away out of state COVID patients. The other hospitals are turning everyone away. They are seeing simple medical issues b/c a problem b/c the level and timeliness of care just in there. In fact, they are so overwhelmed that they can't even provide the best standard of care for everyone - therefore there's a moral distress. Already many nurses and doctors have taken a leave of absence or are in therapy due to the overwhelming workload with no sign of relief.

She also said she's amazed at how many people are vaccine hesitant b/c of the micro chip that's in it. They don't want to be tracked...as if they aren't already with phones, computers, smart watches, etc..

Freedom isn’t free.

[kalm]

Play stupid games…

Another anti-vaccine conservative radio host has died due to complications from COVID-19. Marc Bernier, who hosted a radio show in Daytona Beach, Florida, passed away Saturday at the age of 65. “It’s with great sadness that WNDB and Southern Stone Communications announce the passing of Marc Bernier, who informed and entertained listeners on WNDB for over 30 years,” read a tweet from Bernier’s affiliate radio station. “We kindly ask that privacy is given to Marc’s family during this time of grief.” Bernier was publicly against the COVID-19 vaccine, comparing the U.S. government to Nazis for urging people to get vaccinated. Bernier’s death comes after Dick Farrel, another Florida-based conservative radio host who criticized the vaccine, died from COVID-19 on Aug. 4. “Why take a Vax promoted by all the people who lied 2u [sic] all along about masks, where the virus came from, and the death toll?” Farrel wrote in a Facebook post. A few weeks later, Phil Valentine from Nashville died on Aug. 21. Both men changed their stances on vaccines after contracting the virus.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/marc-bern ... plications

[SeattleGriz]

Don't take this as arguing with you...just it's appropriate given what you've posted.

It's anecdotal but FWIW, watching the cases spread in my school district (and as a corollary, knowing what areas of town those kids are from) has been interesting. There's an affluent school (more republican than democrat) nearby with 20 positive cases in 2 weeks with 150 kids in quarantine (that's just the elementary school). My daughter's school borders that one and is middle class (probably 50/50 Rep and Dem) and it's at 6 positive cases and 41 quarantined. It's interesting. The predominately black school - 135 quarantined/41 positive.

The full scoreboard for the 1st, 2 weeks of school

Elementary
Positive - 120
In Quarantine - 765


Middle
Positive - 91
In Quarantine - 465

High School
Positive - 48
In Quarantine - 246

That's just the student population. The # of Quarantine/Positive for staff in all 3 are 9/13.

So the kids are the one's suffering...and not only that but if a kid is in quarantine, they now have to be home and put MORE stress on their parents/families. And if they're in quarantine then their siblings, in other classes and grades, go into quarantine. Which means their parents also might have to report and go into quarantine or WFH. It's disruptive. Quarantine begets quarantine begets quarantine. It's a vicious circle that's extremely disrupting. If it really mattered to people about getting back to normal, they'd take precautions. But I think so many people aren't looking at the bigger picture. They don't realize the cascading effect. It's more than surviving an illness...it's about getting back to normal in more ways than 1.

Yeah, that’s alot. Of those 259 any hospitalized?

Sources (right, Europe, and even some left) were stating through this past Spring that studies showed the kids weren’t big spreaders..Doesn’t seem to be the case in your neck of the woods.

I've been reading we are having an RSV surge and that is adding to the hospitalization totals. Don't know how much, but it's not insignificant.

[SeattleGriz]

Government website in location of facilities with monoclonal antibodies.

https://protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/th ... -locations

[Ibanez]

So i've told you all about my sister. I was talking to her last night and her hospital is full. Last night there were 90 people in the ER waiting to go to a room. ICU is full. They are laying on the floors b/c there isn't any place to go. They are only turning away out of state COVID patients. The other hospitals are turning everyone away. They are seeing simple medical issues b/c a problem b/c the level and timeliness of care just in there. In fact, they are so overwhelmed that they can't even provide the best standard of care for everyone - therefore there's a moral distress. Already many nurses and doctors have taken a leave of absence or are in therapy due to the overwhelming workload with no sign of relief.

She also said she's amazed at how many people are vaccine hesitant b/c of the micro chip that's in it. They don't want to be tracked...as if they aren't already with phones, computers, smart watches, etc..

Freedom isn’t free.

Nope. It costs a buck o' nine.

[Ibanez]

Yeah, that’s alot. Of those 259 any hospitalized?

Sources (right, Europe, and even some left) were stating through this past Spring that studies showed the kids weren’t big spreaders..Doesn’t seem to be the case in your neck of the woods.

I've been reading we are having an RSV surge and that is adding to the hospitalization totals. Don't know how much, but it's not insignificant.

I've heard the same from my sister in Charleston and my cousins (both doctors) in Atlanta...one of whom is in pediatrics.

[Gil Dobie]

Yeah, that’s alot. Of those 259 any hospitalized?

Sources (right, Europe, and even some left) were stating through this past Spring that studies showed the kids weren’t big spreaders..Doesn’t seem to be the case in your neck of the woods.

I've been reading we are having an RSV surge and that is adding to the hospitalization totals. Don't know how much, but it's not insignificant.

Only 2.3% of hospitalizations are children.

[SeattleGriz]

I've been reading we are having an RSV surge and that is adding to the hospitalization totals. Don't know how much, but it's not insignificant.

Only 2.3% of hospitalizations are children.

Was only referring to the surge in hospitalized children.

[SeattleGriz]

So i've told you all about my sister. I was talking to her last night and her hospital is full. Last night there were 90 people in the ER waiting to go to a room. ICU is full. They are laying on the floors b/c there isn't any place to go. They are only turning away out of state COVID patients. The other hospitals are turning everyone away. They are seeing simple medical issues b/c a problem b/c the level and timeliness of care just in there. In fact, they are so overwhelmed that they can't even provide the best standard of care for everyone - therefore there's a moral distress. Already many nurses and doctors have taken a leave of absence or are in therapy due to the overwhelming workload with no sign of relief.

She also said she's amazed at how many people are vaccine hesitant b/c of the micro chip that's in it. They don't want to be tracked...as if they aren't already with phones, computers, smart watches, etc..

Not to make light of your sisters situation, but we have the same "surveillance" types where I work.

Saw a guy in the lunch room pull out a small tin foil package and in it was his employee badge which he used to pay for his lunch. He said "they're tracking us!".

Didn't have the heart to tell him they now had a record of him buying his lunch with said badge!

[Ibanez]

So i've told you all about my sister. I was talking to her last night and her hospital is full. Last night there were 90 people in the ER waiting to go to a room. ICU is full. They are laying on the floors b/c there isn't any place to go. They are only turning away out of state COVID patients. The other hospitals are turning everyone away. They are seeing simple medical issues b/c a problem b/c the level and timeliness of care just in there. In fact, they are so overwhelmed that they can't even provide the best standard of care for everyone - therefore there's a moral distress. Already many nurses and doctors have taken a leave of absence or are in therapy due to the overwhelming workload with no sign of relief.

She also said she's amazed at how many people are vaccine hesitant b/c of the micro chip that's in it. They don't want to be tracked...as if they aren't already with phones, computers, smart watches, etc..

Not to make light of your sisters situation, but we have the same "surveillance" types where I work.

Saw a guy in the lunch room pull out a small tin foil package and in it was his employee badge which he used to pay for his lunch. He said "they're tracking us!".

Didn't have the heart to tell him they now had a record of him buying his lunch with said badge!

You're good. Those people are flipping stupid. I've shared with y'all that an employee of my buddy's quit b/c he think COVID will end the world..right?

[kalm]

Nice work there dipshits…

From KHQ Spokane:

“BREAKING: 200 additional medical personal heading to Idaho at the request of hospitals due to COVID surge, Gov. Brad Little also is mobilizing the Idaho National Guard.

According to Gov. Little, there are only 4 adult ICU beds available in the state of Idaho.”

[UNI88]

Nice work there dipshits…

From KHQ Spokane:

“BREAKING: 200 additional medical personal heading to Idaho at the request of hospitals due to COVID surge, Gov. Brad Little also is mobilizing the Idaho National Guard.

According to Gov. Little, there are only 4 adult ICU beds available in the state of Idaho.”

How will Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin react?

[kalm]

Nice work there dipshits…

From KHQ Spokane:

“BREAKING: 200 additional medical personal heading to Idaho at the request of hospitals due to COVID surge, Gov. Brad Little also is mobilizing the Idaho National Guard.

According to Gov. Little, there are only 4 adult ICU beds available in the state of Idaho.”

How will Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin react?

Guns a blazing, I reckon!

[SDHornet]

So have they erected the tent for additional space like they did last year? Or is that not a thing this time around?

[Gil Dobie]

So have they erected the tent for additional space like they did last year? Or is that not a thing this time around?

Laying on floors in Ft Myers area.

[kalm]

So have they erected the tent for additional space like they did last year? Or is that not a thing this time around?

Yes they have.

[SeattleGriz]

Scheduled an appointment for tomorrow to get COVID antibody tested. Let you guys know when I get the results.

Obviously I'm not sick, just wanted to know immunity status.

I can think of two instances in the last year it could have been, but with school age kids in the house, probably just regular seasonal crap.

Negative. Had some reactivity, but not enough to be considered immune to Covid.

[BDKJMU]

Well, a non entity on most of social media. But he has been on conservative outlets lile the Clay Travis/Buck Sexton Show, Tucker Carlson, Hannity), had some big rallies that millions have watched on tv or online.

It was a joke, bro. A joke.

Copy.
Also forgot about the CPAC keynote addresses. Made a brief appearance on the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton show again yesterday. Was on a roll lol. Now they’re talking about doing one of the shows from Mar-A-Lago.

[kalm]

It was a joke, bro. A joke.

Copy.
Also forgot about the CPAC keynote addresses. Made a brief appearance on the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton show again yesterday. Was on a roll lol. Now they’re talking about doing one of the shows from Mar-A-Lago.

Holy shit! No way!

[Winterborn]

Good time to be a traveling nurse.

Seen some postings for over $5000/week.

[∞∞∞]

With the fourth wave of the pandemic in full swing, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant, the trajectory of the patients I see, from admission to critical care, is all too familiar. When they’re vaccinated, their COVID-19 infections most likely end after Stage 1. If only that were the case for everyone.

Get vaccinated. If you choose not to, here’s what to expect if you are hospitalized for a serious case of COVID-19.

Stage 1. You’ve had debilitating symptoms for a few days, but now it is so hard to breathe that you come to the emergency room. Your oxygen saturation level tells us you need help, a supplemental flow of 1 to 4 liters of oxygen per minute. We admit you and start you on antivirals, steroids, anticoagulants or monoclonal antibodies. You’ll spend several days in the hospital feeling run-down, but if we can wean you off the oxygen, you’ll get discharged. You survive.

Stage 2. It becomes harder and harder for you to breathe. “Like drowning,” many patients describe the feeling. The bronchodilator treatments we give you provide little relief. Your oxygen requirements increase significantly, from 4 liters to 15 liters to 40 liters per minute. Little things, like relieving yourself or sitting up in bed, become too difficult for you to do on your own. Your oxygen saturation rapidly declines when you move about. We transfer you to the intensive care unit.

Stage 3. You’re exhausted from hyperventilating to satisfy your body’s demand for air. We put you on noninvasive, “positive pressure” ventilation — a big, bulky face mask that must be Velcro’d tightly around your face so the machine can efficiently push pressure into your lungs to pop them open so you get enough of the oxygen it delivers.

Stage 4. Your breathing becomes even more labored. We can tell you’re severely fatigued. An arterial blood draw confirms that the oxygen content in your blood is critically low. We prepare to intubate you. If you’re able to and if there’s time, we will suggest that you call your loved ones. This might be the last time they’ll hear your voice.

We connect you to a ventilator. You are sedated and paralyzed, fed through a feeding tube, hooked to a Foley catheter and a rectal tube. We turn your limp body regularly, so you don’t develop pressure ulcers — bed sores. We bathe you and keep you clean. We flip you onto your stomach to allow for better oxygenation. We will try experimental therapeutics.

Stage 5. Some patients survive Stage 4. Unfortunately, your oxygen levels and overall condition have not improved after several days on the ventilator. Your COVID-infested lungs need assistance and time to heal, something that an ECMO machine, which bypasses your lungs and oxygenates your blood, can provide. But alas, our community hospital doesn’t have that capability.

If you’re stable enough, you will get transferred to another hospital for that therapy. Otherwise, we’ll continue treating you as best we can. We’re understaffed and overwhelmed, but we’ll always give you the best care we can.

Stage 6. The pressure required to open your lungs is so high that air can leak into your chest cavity, so we insert tubes to clear it out. Your kidneys fail to filter the byproducts from the drugs we continuously give you. Despite diuretics, your entire body swells from fluid retention, and you require dialysis to help with your renal function.

The long hospital stay and your depressed immune system make you susceptible to infections. A chest X-ray shows fluid accumulating in your lung sacs. A blood clot may show up, too. We can’t prevent these complications at this point; we treat them as they present.

If your blood pressure drops critically, we will administer vasopressors to bring it up, but your heart may stop anyway. After several rounds of CPR, we’ll get your pulse and circulation back. But soon, your family will need to make a difficult decision.

Stage 7: After several meetings with the palliative care team, your family decides to withdraw care. We extubate you, turning off the breathing machinery. We set up a final FaceTime call with your loved ones. As we work in your room, we hear crying and loving goodbyes. We cry, too, and we hold your hand until your last natural breath.

I’ve been at this for 17 months now. It doesn’t get easier. My pandemic stories rarely end well.

www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-08-2 ... f_amp=true

[Ibanez]

Good time to be a traveling nurse.

Seen some postings for over $5000/week.

Former neighbor is making about that working in LA.

[Ibanez]

With the fourth wave of the pandemic in full swing, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant, the trajectory of the patients I see, from admission to critical care, is all too familiar. When they’re vaccinated, their COVID-19 infections most likely end after Stage 1. If only that were the case for everyone.

Get vaccinated. If you choose not to, here’s what to expect if you are hospitalized for a serious case of COVID-19.

Stage 1. You’ve had debilitating symptoms for a few days, but now it is so hard to breathe that you come to the emergency room. Your oxygen saturation level tells us you need help, a supplemental flow of 1 to 4 liters of oxygen per minute. We admit you and start you on antivirals, steroids, anticoagulants or monoclonal antibodies. You’ll spend several days in the hospital feeling run-down, but if we can wean you off the oxygen, you’ll get discharged. You survive.

Stage 2. It becomes harder and harder for you to breathe. “Like drowning,” many patients describe the feeling. The bronchodilator treatments we give you provide little relief. Your oxygen requirements increase significantly, from 4 liters to 15 liters to 40 liters per minute. Little things, like relieving yourself or sitting up in bed, become too difficult for you to do on your own. Your oxygen saturation rapidly declines when you move about. We transfer you to the intensive care unit.

Stage 3. You’re exhausted from hyperventilating to satisfy your body’s demand for air. We put you on noninvasive, “positive pressure” ventilation — a big, bulky face mask that must be Velcro’d tightly around your face so the machine can efficiently push pressure into your lungs to pop them open so you get enough of the oxygen it delivers.

Stage 4. Your breathing becomes even more labored. We can tell you’re severely fatigued. An arterial blood draw confirms that the oxygen content in your blood is critically low. We prepare to intubate you. If you’re able to and if there’s time, we will suggest that you call your loved ones. This might be the last time they’ll hear your voice.

We connect you to a ventilator. You are sedated and paralyzed, fed through a feeding tube, hooked to a Foley catheter and a rectal tube. We turn your limp body regularly, so you don’t develop pressure ulcers — bed sores. We bathe you and keep you clean. We flip you onto your stomach to allow for better oxygenation. We will try experimental therapeutics.

Stage 5. Some patients survive Stage 4. Unfortunately, your oxygen levels and overall condition have not improved after several days on the ventilator. Your COVID-infested lungs need assistance and time to heal, something that an ECMO machine, which bypasses your lungs and oxygenates your blood, can provide. But alas, our community hospital doesn’t have that capability.

If you’re stable enough, you will get transferred to another hospital for that therapy. Otherwise, we’ll continue treating you as best we can. We’re understaffed and overwhelmed, but we’ll always give you the best care we can.

Stage 6. The pressure required to open your lungs is so high that air can leak into your chest cavity, so we insert tubes to clear it out. Your kidneys fail to filter the byproducts from the drugs we continuously give you. Despite diuretics, your entire body swells from fluid retention, and you require dialysis to help with your renal function.

The long hospital stay and your depressed immune system make you susceptible to infections. A chest X-ray shows fluid accumulating in your lung sacs. A blood clot may show up, too. We can’t prevent these complications at this point; we treat them as they present.

If your blood pressure drops critically, we will administer vasopressors to bring it up, but your heart may stop anyway. After several rounds of CPR, we’ll get your pulse and circulation back. But soon, your family will need to make a difficult decision.

Stage 7: After several meetings with the palliative care team, your family decides to withdraw care. We extubate you, turning off the breathing machinery. We set up a final FaceTime call with your loved ones. As we work in your room, we hear crying and loving goodbyes. We cry, too, and we hold your hand until your last natural breath.

I’ve been at this for 17 months now. It doesn’t get easier. My pandemic stories rarely end well.

www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-08-2 ... f_amp=true

I wonder why that link doesn't work.


That's a gut wrenching play by play and sounds all to similar to what my sister has told us.

[BDKJMU]

With the fourth wave of the pandemic in full swing, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant, the trajectory of the patients I see, from admission to critical care, is all too familiar. When they’re vaccinated, their COVID-19 infections most likely end after Stage 1. If only that were the case for everyone.

Get vaccinated. If you choose not to, here’s what to expect if you are hospitalized for a serious case of COVID-19.

Stage 1. You’ve had debilitating symptoms for a few days, but now it is so hard to breathe that you come to the emergency room. Your oxygen saturation level tells us you need help, a supplemental flow of 1 to 4 liters of oxygen per minute. We admit you and start you on antivirals, steroids, anticoagulants or monoclonal antibodies. You’ll spend several days in the hospital feeling run-down, but if we can wean you off the oxygen, you’ll get discharged. You survive.

Stage 2. It becomes harder and harder for you to breathe. “Like drowning,” many patients describe the feeling. The bronchodilator treatments we give you provide little relief. Your oxygen requirements increase significantly, from 4 liters to 15 liters to 40 liters per minute. Little things, like relieving yourself or sitting up in bed, become too difficult for you to do on your own. Your oxygen saturation rapidly declines when you move about. We transfer you to the intensive care unit.

Stage 3. You’re exhausted from hyperventilating to satisfy your body’s demand for air. We put you on noninvasive, “positive pressure” ventilation — a big, bulky face mask that must be Velcro’d tightly around your face so the machine can efficiently push pressure into your lungs to pop them open so you get enough of the oxygen it delivers.

Stage 4. Your breathing becomes even more labored. We can tell you’re severely fatigued. An arterial blood draw confirms that the oxygen content in your blood is critically low. We prepare to intubate you. If you’re able to and if there’s time, we will suggest that you call your loved ones. This might be the last time they’ll hear your voice.

We connect you to a ventilator. You are sedated and paralyzed, fed through a feeding tube, hooked to a Foley catheter and a rectal tube. We turn your limp body regularly, so you don’t develop pressure ulcers — bed sores. We bathe you and keep you clean. We flip you onto your stomach to allow for better oxygenation. We will try experimental therapeutics.

Stage 5. Some patients survive Stage 4. Unfortunately, your oxygen levels and overall condition have not improved after several days on the ventilator. Your COVID-infested lungs need assistance and time to heal, something that an ECMO machine, which bypasses your lungs and oxygenates your blood, can provide. But alas, our community hospital doesn’t have that capability.

If you’re stable enough, you will get transferred to another hospital for that therapy. Otherwise, we’ll continue treating you as best we can. We’re understaffed and overwhelmed, but we’ll always give you the best care we can.

Stage 6. The pressure required to open your lungs is so high that air can leak into your chest cavity, so we insert tubes to clear it out. Your kidneys fail to filter the byproducts from the drugs we continuously give you. Despite diuretics, your entire body swells from fluid retention, and you require dialysis to help with your renal function.

The long hospital stay and your depressed immune system make you susceptible to infections. A chest X-ray shows fluid accumulating in your lung sacs. A blood clot may show up, too. We can’t prevent these complications at this point; we treat them as they present.

If your blood pressure drops critically, we will administer vasopressors to bring it up, but your heart may stop anyway. After several rounds of CPR, we’ll get your pulse and circulation back. But soon, your family will need to make a difficult decision.

Stage 7: After several meetings with the palliative care team, your family decides to withdraw care. We extubate you, turning off the breathing machinery. We set up a final FaceTime call with your loved ones. As we work in your room, we hear crying and loving goodbyes. We cry, too, and we hold your hand until your last natural breath.

I’ve been at this for 17 months now. It doesn’t get easier. My pandemic stories rarely end well.

www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-08-2 ... f_amp=true

4th wave? I thought it was the 3rd.

[Winterborn]

Good time to be a traveling nurse.

Seen some postings for over $5000/week.

Former neighbor is making about that working in LA.

About a third of the extended family is in the nursing or healthcare side of things and they said (at least in ND) that the lack of nurses and other healthcare workers is a big problem and getting worse.

One Aunt has been doing it for 35 years and she said the only reason she is still doing it is that she has 3 years left before she will retire. Between Government regulations, and all the hoops they have to jump through, plus crappy upper management, means many people are just staying away from the profession.