From a first responder with emergency department experience

a reply to: Sillyolme

Yeah, I had to go out once for some more stuff. Wore gloves and a respirator, and got weird looks the whole time. That's fine, if people think I'm nuts then they'll give me more space, lol. I just went to a different shopping place than I usually do.

a reply to: Iconic

I really appreciate your contributions here today, and obviously more in the 'real world'.

While I understand the severity of the situation, another thing that needs to stop is the over the top fear mongering. It's just as dangerous. Some folks are still predicting (with glee) deaths in the hundreds of millions. Some folks around here think humanity is a blight on the planet and needs to be cleansed. They quietly love this situation.
They're rooting for more death. That's the thing that gets to me. I see someone like you fighting like hell to save lives, putting yourself and family at risk...it just makes me livid when people root for this to get worse, while in the next breath tell everyone to "stay safe". Sick.

I'm not in your shoes, but I have to wonder if the over the top predictions might contribute the overflow. Just look at what it's done to the supply chain.

How many people are hoarding masks because someone on ATS predicted 350 million dead?

a reply to: Iconic

No goggles or face shield?

originally posted by: BoscoMoney
a reply to: Iconic

Please dont lecture me. You know nothing about me. Anymore than we know about you.

If there is one thing you actually need right now, it's a lecture.

Thanks OP.

At times like this I think even more about the lobsided nature of the way we attribute value in terms of remuneration.
Someone saving lives, ambulance drivers, doctors, nurses, care workers etc... work their asses off, face danger day in day out and get paid peanuts. Some fat guy sitting in an office pretending to work whilst he surfs the web gets paid a fortune.

Anyway, stay safe and thanks for doing the job you do.

ATS is in bed with Trump and Trump downplays the coronavirus, comparing it to the flu and wants everyone to publicly gather in 2 weeks. I greatly appreciate your service and your thread OP, but there are numerous coronavirus hoax threads on this website which is extremely dangerous to spread wrong information of the virus.

So, my spouse and I got sick. Me 2 1/2 weeks ago, and they did almost 2 weeks ago. 3 of our kids caught it fast. Another kid isolated themselves completely. As of today, the isolated one (closed air vents, lysol, food in room) are sick. One other kid is a nurse. They have surgical masks, only, for work. They do not protect the wearer at all. 2 of the sick kids that have had fever as of today for 14 DAYS and a cough that's progressed this past week from dry to thick sticky phlem and a nasty nose went to emergency a couple days ago. No doctor would see them so an expensive ER trip was in order. Covid-19 test refused based on quote cdc guidelines to not test anyone except only those needing hospitalization. Period. The nurse in ER had a paper gown, face shield, and a surgical mask (blue). I asked about it. She said they are wearing a p95 under, and a surgical mask over it. Wow I thought, that is really good ppe practices. Then she quietly told me, "We are told to use our (disposable) p95 masks over 3 shifts. That's why they're wearing the surgical on top.

On a side note, my spouse (no flu vaccine) blood tested positive for A and B flu. Managed a covid test miraculously but results still not in. Me and the 4 sick kids DID have a flu shot late February. Symptoms showed 3 weeks later. I called and asked what we were immunized against. I was told type A H1N1, A H3N2, B Yamagata, B Maryland, B Colorado, and B Victoria. The cdc website showed early season was B Yamagata and B Victoria. Now (late season) is A H1N1 and some A H3N2. So what has me and the 4 kids sick for 2 plus weeks???

Don't know. Can NOT get tested.

Take that, and apply it to first responders trying to protect the public without proper ppe. It is so disheartening. Prayers for the op, all medical staff and first responders.

a reply to: Anon911

Fluids and rest. Stay away from taking ibuprofen if manageable (haven't confirmed the link, but stay on the safe side for now), and if you are having issues breathing, rest with your upper body at a slight incline, or at what we call semi-fowler.

Hope you are well.

As for the testing, theres some movement now with rapid tests, but there are also ineffective tests flooding in from mexico and the like; everyone's trying to make a dollar off a bomb threat now.

originally posted by: Iconic
a reply to: Anon911

Fluids and rest. Stay away from taking ibuprofen if manageable (haven't confirmed the link, but stay on the safe side for now), and if you are having issues breathing, rest with your upper body at a slight incline, or at what we call semi-fowler.

Hope you are well.

As for the testing, theres some movement now with rapid tests, but there are also ineffective tests flooding in from mexico and the like; everyone's trying to make a dollar off a bomb threat now.

Yeah, studies have shown Ibuprofen lowers the inflammatory response to such a degree that it makes flu symptoms more severe. The WHO is recommending Acetaminophen (found in Tylenol) although, too much can be taxing on your liver.

originally posted by: clay2 baraka

originally posted by: Iconic
a reply to: Anon911

Fluids and rest. Stay away from taking ibuprofen if manageable (haven't confirmed the link, but stay on the safe side for now), and if you are having issues breathing, rest with your upper body at a slight incline, or at what we call semi-fowler.

Hope you are well.

As for the testing, theres some movement now with rapid tests, but there are also ineffective tests flooding in from mexico and the like; everyone's trying to make a dollar off a bomb threat now.

Yeah, studies have shown Ibuprofen lowers the inflammatory response to such a degree that it makes flu symptoms more severe. The WHO is recommending Acetaminophen (found in Tylenol) although, too much can be taxing on your liver.

Yes. At the beginning when we were not sick I bought a ton of acetaminophen AND ibuprofen (I have a gaggle of kids so....) After we all fell like dominoes I feared for covid-19. I am only giving acetaminophen and occasionally benadryl/the off brand (for stuffy nose) and dimeatap (spelling?) For "cough and cold". My one healthy kid is up a degree. Not a fever per say but a beginning. My spouse passed out once finally home. It has almost been 3 week for crickey sake! I am so frustrated. If this was a typical 5 to 10 day ordeal, it would be nothing. But now 1 previously healthy kid needs tylenol, 2 that are not recovered 2 weeks on still have a fever tonight and need tylenol. 2 adults bodies refuse to have temperatures (what is up with that) and we as a family are failing with whatever this is. Soooooooo frustrating!

We have a humidifier for the sickest of the group.

Anyone calling this a nothing burger etc hasn't had to deal with MULTIPLE little kids worth more than their own life deal with an illness that NO ONE can or will diagnose. No back up meds to aid treatment. This....sucks....bad bad bad.

This was to iconic as well. On a phone. Hard to navigate multiple quotes etc.

originally posted by: Anon911

originally posted by: clay2 baraka

originally posted by: Iconic
a reply to: Anon911

Fluids and rest. Stay away from taking ibuprofen if manageable (haven't confirmed the link, but stay on the safe side for now), and if you are having issues breathing, rest with your upper body at a slight incline, or at what we call semi-fowler.

Hope you are well.

As for the testing, theres some movement now with rapid tests, but there are also ineffective tests flooding in from mexico and the like; everyone's trying to make a dollar off a bomb threat now.

Yeah, studies have shown Ibuprofen lowers the inflammatory response to such a degree that it makes flu symptoms more severe. The WHO is recommending Acetaminophen (found in Tylenol) although, too much can be taxing on your liver.

Yes. At the beginning when we were not sick I bought a ton of acetaminophen AND ibuprofen (I have a gaggle of kids so....) After we all fell like dominoes I feared for covid-19. I am only giving acetaminophen and occasionally benadryl/the off brand (for stuffy nose) and dimeatap (spelling?) For "cough and cold". My one healthy kid is up a degree. Not a fever per say but a beginning. My spouse passed out once finally home. It has almost been 3 week for crickey sake! I am so frustrated. If this was a typical 5 to 10 day ordeal, it would be nothing. But now 1 previously healthy kid needs tylenol, 2 that are not recovered 2 weeks on still have a fever tonight and need tylenol. 2 adults bodies refuse to have temperatures (what is up with that) and we as a family are failing with whatever this is. Soooooooo frustrating!

We have a humidifier for the sickest of the group.

Anyone calling this a nothing burger etc hasn't had to deal with MULTIPLE little kids worth more than their own life deal with an illness that NO ONE can or will diagnose. No back up meds to aid treatment. This....sucks....bad bad bad.

This was to iconic as well. On a phone. Hard to navigate multiple quotes etc.

I can't stress this enough. Supplement electrolytes.. Not Pedialyte/Gatorade (both are lower in electrolytes than you think), but the real stuff that you mix into a drink in powdered form.. Ultima and Natural Calm are amazing. It will help your response to the flu quite a bit.

originally posted by: clay2 baraka

originally posted by: Anon911

originally posted by: clay2 baraka

originally posted by: Iconic
a reply to: Anon911

Fluids and rest. Stay away from taking ibuprofen if manageable (haven't confirmed the link, but stay on the safe side for now), and if you are having issues breathing, rest with your upper body at a slight incline, or at what we call semi-fowler.

Hope you are well.

As for the testing, theres some movement now with rapid tests, but there are also ineffective tests flooding in from mexico and the like; everyone's trying to make a dollar off a bomb threat now.

Yeah, studies have shown Ibuprofen lowers the inflammatory response to such a degree that it makes flu symptoms more severe. The WHO is recommending Acetaminophen (found in Tylenol) although, too much can be taxing on your liver.

Yes. At the beginning when we were not sick I bought a ton of acetaminophen AND ibuprofen (I have a gaggle of kids so....) After we all fell like dominoes I feared for covid-19. I am only giving acetaminophen and occasionally benadryl/the off brand (for stuffy nose) and dimeatap (spelling?) For "cough and cold". My one healthy kid is up a degree. Not a fever per say but a beginning. My spouse passed out once finally home. It has almost been 3 week for crickey sake! I am so frustrated. If this was a typical 5 to 10 day ordeal, it would be nothing. But now 1 previously healthy kid needs tylenol, 2 that are not recovered 2 weeks on still have a fever tonight and need tylenol. 2 adults bodies refuse to have temperatures (what is up with that) and we as a family are failing with whatever this is. Soooooooo frustrating!

We have a humidifier for the sickest of the group.

Anyone calling this a nothing burger etc hasn't had to deal with MULTIPLE little kids worth more than their own life deal with an illness that NO ONE can or will diagnose. No back up meds to aid treatment. This....sucks....bad bad bad.

This was to iconic as well. On a phone. Hard to navigate multiple quotes etc.

I can't stress this enough. Supplement electrolytes.. Not Pedialyte/Gatorade (both are lower in electrolytes than you think), but the real stuff that you mix into a drink in powdered form.. Ultima and Natural Calm are amazing. It will help your response to the flu quite a bit.

Thank you. I have Gatorade and Pedialyte i will see if I can get what you mentioned. I am in a pretty rural America down south. Can't find ANY paper products (TP, Paper towels, Kleenex etc). Hopefully I can find this somewhere.

originally posted by: Iconic
a reply to: Serdgiam

It is an interesting method, but like anything else in the medical field, it requires extensive testing, and with something as new as Covid 19, it would probably need some testing with that specific strain to note the performance.

Needless to say, that's a lot of time, and a lot of potential infections from A to B.

All viruses have a fatty outer layer (envelope)...that's the layer the recrystallizing salt destroys causing viruses in aerosol droplets to break down. The size of the viruses doesn't matter, it's the aerosol droplets which get trapped by the masks that rehydrate the salt. Aerosol droplets don't change size depending on the viruses found in them.

The method from this study is universal. The researcher who conducted the study recently said he believes it would be just as effective with this coronavirus. Link

Also..it wouldn't take any more time to test this salt method with coronavirus than it does to test the methods being touted to disinfect previously used N95 masks.

Sounds like you want to spread fear...


I get you’re scared but I think we both know, everyone is taking this seriously. More alarm calls really doesn’t help anything but spread more panic.

I guess we should take your advice and all gather at the dollar general and raid it?

a reply to: Iconic

originally posted by: Iconic
It means, in a nutshell, we're going to start losing providers. Sure, companies are starting to try to produce things like gowns and gloves, and machines needed, but the actual PPE that is needed is still a long way away. Our providers are going to get sick. And when we start dropping in numbers of providers, people are going to start dying faster. See what I'm getting at?

First and foremost, thank you for the thread, and thank you for choosing the career path you chose.

I'm working on a thread that will provide a ton of real, irrefutable scientific documentation and studies to back up what I'll be saying. I started on it a couple of weeks ago, but have been slammed getting everyone in our office set up to work remotely, so haven't made much progress. But the way things are looking at my $dayjob, I will likely have a lot more time the next few weeks, so hopefully I'll be posting it next week...

But the point for this reply is, there is actually a lot that you and your fellow first responders to protect yourselves. It may sound silly, but the fact and reality is, there is a whole lot of very respectable research to back up what I'm about to tell you (and I'll be providing it soon).

It is simple. There are certain nutritional deficiencies that the vast majority of people currently have that make them far more susceptible to getting sick, whether it is simple colds, or the flu, and pretty much and and all bacterial and viral infections.

That said, before I go any further...

I am absolutely not saying that any of the following will cure anything. On the contrary, they DO NOT.

What they do is support the bodies natural immune system and it's ability to fight off/slow down the ability of any bacteria or virus to enter the cells and wreak whatever their particular havoc happens to be.

Ok, so, here are 4 inexpensive supplements that you could start taking now, today, that are super critical to a properly functioning immune system, that you and everyone else (that isn't supplementing, either through specific food choices, or actual supplements) are almost certainly very, even extremely deficient.

Vitamin C
Vitamin D3+K2
Zinc
Selenium

Note that, especially wrt Vitamin C, dose & frequency are very important to results. In other cases - like D, Zinc & Selenium - the form is also very important (citrate, gluconate, etc). Specifically for Vitamin C (what I consider the most important one), you simply cannot take the RDA - or even double or triple it - and expect any results. A good rule is, 500mg-1,000mg every half hour, to bowel tolerance (meaning, when your bowels start getting loose).

There is a ton of research and information about these available online. Google is your friend.

I'll just leave it at that for now. Take it or leave it, believe it or not.

a reply to: chr0naut

amen. Good words in very very tough times.

So question...we are quarantined my family and I...no going anywhere for two weeks almost already. No company coming here, no things in even from the outside, just what we have on hand so we have literally zero potential of getting sick. We also have six of those big, army green or black, wrap-around masks if that is what u are talking about which look like they have two cans of Sterno sticking out the cheeks...not only do we have six but there are only three of us. Not hoarding, have had these for years ready to go. Is it better to drop those off at one of the hospitals or ambulance headquarters...even three of them if not all six? Or would it be better if we had them to wear ourselves? I don't even buy into the whole thing (no offense) and I have those and probably a thousand disposable surgeon masks and twenty gauze like scrubs (the greenish blue ones between cloth and paper). Is it better citizens have masks in the long run since they may need them or do I drop them at an ambulance center cuz they DO need em?

a reply to: Iconic

I have not heard of anyone, not one of my family or friends or anyone they know. Not anyone with this so called Covid-19

I have friends and family from California, Arkansas, Illinois, Alabama, Tennessee, NY and the Maryland D.C. area besides my home in Florida and not one person has had anything more than a 4 day flu!!!!

Supposedly we have had one person, an old man who traveled to China and did not quarantine himself infect one person in our county. One person after going to the TAMPA Convention Center all day and then flying home from Tampa airport? Yeah ok, sorry but not even the stories add up.

Such a super bug that it only infected one person out of the thousands he came into contact with 😆.

How is it that this fool did not quarantine himself even when he knew he was sick, he said he even went to the gym the day he felt better and yet WE STILL ONLY HAVE ONE CASE IN OUR COUNTY AFTER MONTHS 😆? A county of millions, 30 minutes away from Tampa airport and we still only have one case.

You might see a few people waring mask in Wal-Mart or at the grocery stores here and nothing.


This is nothing but a power grab!! They could have stopped the airlines flying into our country on day two of China announcing the news and did ten times less damage to our economy.

The amount of stupidity coming from the government alerts is ludicrous. First they tell people to stay 15 feet away, then its 6 and yesterday seeing that people here in Florida were giving them the middle finger and going boating they said not more than 10 people in a boat and the boats needed to stay 50 feet apart from each other.

Like 45 feet away and the virus will jump over water and affect the other boat 😆.

Go live your normal lives and find whatever work you can because following what the government says will only make you depressed and broke. The sooner us Americans call them on their BS the sooner we can get our country back on its feet and back to normal.

Just wanna throw in my two cents, part-time county medic/full-time IFT medic here.

We're dealing with the same thing. The only PPE we're not reusing is our gloves. Everything else, we've been ordered to reuse for the sake of rationing our already limited supplies. Local hospitals are nearly out of gowns, they're reusing N95s just like us, etc. Pretty much a #show in progress already and it's just gonna get worse.

We've got two decent sized hospitals locally, totaling ~230 beds. At the primary, 10 of those are ICUs and 1 is negative pressure. As of last week, they've set up a makeshift ICU on an entire floor at the primary, so we now have ~40 ICU beds. About half those are already full. They've pulled all the vet/seasoned staff from the smaller facility and moved them down here to handle COVID. They're also ensuring that only "possible" or confirmed COVID pts are being treated down here, while everything else is being transferred to the smaller facility or elsewhere.

Testing is sketchy. The majority of people that are symptomatic are not being tested for one reason or another. Typical argument is "CDC guidelines" regarding hospitalization since we're really short on test kits. The ones that are being tested and are testing positive, well that's where it gets tricky. A bit over half of those people that are positive here at our facility, they're from out of state. So when CDC does their counts, it doesn't matter where those people are actually physically located and being treated... they're tallied for where they're from. So, say your place of residence is in NY but you're in a hospital 800 miles away, NY gets a +1 to their count, rather than a +1 to the location where you're actually being treated. So the numbers are a bit funky.

Anyways. TLDR, it's a mess and it's quickly getting worse. Gonna be a really interesting summer.

Why are there no pictures or videos, none, from inside these hospitals?