Musings and Observations
We have all seen it. The guy with the surplus store gas mask haunting the isles of Target or the women in the floral patterned mask made from last years curtains. We've seen the sports team logos, smiley faces, corporate advertisements, political statements, and a sea of sterile blue loop masks.
We are all just amateur ninjas fighting this airborne menace the only way we know how: By holding our breath and bathing in lakes of hand sanitizer.
Aside from setting up pandemic testing sites and other project management functions during Covid, I keep a 1000 physician medical group supplied with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Its not what one would call a sexy responsibility. Not like doing surgery, curing disease or being a Zoom call frequent flyer. But, it is important work, if often overlooked as a factor in safe healthcare.
A rep from one of our suppliers told me that when the pandemic hit, 147 different Chinese manufacturers sent offers for face masks, but the supplier could only approve two! The whole world was unprepared for this. Fast forward and now masks are a plague blowing across our streets like tumbleweed and infest city parks like lovely fields of blue pansies.
Ever smiled at someone on the street while wearing your mask? Ever think them rude for not smiling back? Have you learned to be "Eye Expressive" in hopes others will notice your merry orbs and realize you are communicating friendship?
Have you even figured out how to wear a mask? Is it blue side or white side out? DEPENDS!!! I was walking into a building delivering masks when someone told me my mask was inside out. I flipped it not thinking of what pathogens were on the other side. 5 minutes later I flipped it back 'cause someone else told me that was wrong. So... After careful consideration, I wonder if a droplet of filth cares which side it enters at.
The shear amount of different sanitizing wipes, sprays, foams and gels are mind numbing! At first, we would indiscriminately take pregnant pumps of any and every sanitizer offered or laying unattended. Quickly we learned to discriminate when toxic odor of landfill ammonia or slaughter house rancidity reached our snouts.
As a kid, disinfecting meant mom wiping my face with a wet, dirty dish rag or my older brother pressure washing me with the green garden hose. Today we have to use products with the words like Fungicidal, Germicidal and Sporicidal; not to mention Mycobacterium and Bovine Diarrhea as well as a list of 150 other devils. In a healthcare setting this is replaced with: Red Top, Purple Top, Black Top, White Top, Orange, Green and Blue Top. Each colored top denoting a different set of pathogens eradicated.
As I cruise the halls of the facility or communicate in public, my untrained eye notices how our interactions with others have changed. We no longer greet others throughout the day. We hardly ever make eye contact and elbow bumps are no substitute for a firm handshake. We all now have to make a concerted effort to be friendly, to be warm. It is a conscious decision that we each must make in order to normalize our relationship with the rest of the human race.
The Science of Covid-19 is constantly changing. New wrinkles are discovered daily that change the dynamics of this disease. Very smart people debate the importance of masks, sanitizer and other PPE, but one thing is for sure. For better or for worse, we are in this together.
Stay safe and healthy friends.
@healthcare @PPE @covid-19