Pandemic. Unprecedented. Quarantine. Not words we heard every day…
until early 2020. As an invisible enemy swept across continents and
invaded even the smallest of villages, elected officials and healthcare
professionals were pressed to comply with the demands of COVID-19.
This virus tested us economically and socially while leaving millions to lie
sick and die alone in their hospital beds.
Like tragedies can, this common enemy brought out the best in some
people. In places like New York City, residents would throw open
their apartment windows at 7 p.m. each evening to applaud the first
responders and medical staffs who worked feverishly around the clock.
There were also countless unsung heroes across the globe who donated food, set up funding pages, and gave of their
time to make whatever contribution they could, to help people they would never meet.
We decided to interview some local business owners and specialists to learn about their experiences. None were
celebrated with banners or interviewed by Diane Sawyer, but every day, these extraordinary people did everything they
could to give their patients and clients the best possible care.
Nursing Home Support
Andrea Harless has been a physical therapist assistant for 21 years. She currently supports patients in a nursing home
facility in St Petersburg.
Did you and your colleagues struggle with getting the PPE and supplies you needed?
We always had support from our company, but we were in the same boat as the hospitals trying to scramble to get
what we needed for our protection and for the residents’ protection. In the beginning we were also unsure what we
needed to protect everyone; mainly because the CDC didn’t even know what would work.”
How has your professional routine been impacted?
We were challenged because as an outpatient therapy clinic we had to stop all of our community patients from coming
in because we were under lockdown. When we would come into our facility, we had to enter one person at a time,
have temperature checks, get a wrist band, complete paperwork, and wear
a new mask every day. We are tested for COVID every two weeks. All of
our equipment is wiped down between patients and certain chemicals
are used daily.”
How are you personally dealing with all the additional risks associated
with your job?
Our job has become more stressful to ensure we maintain the high
standards set by the facility by following these new protocols. Taking care
of our patients and being there for them and making sure they were always
protected was our job one. Personally, if we took care of ourselves then we
knew the residents were safe being around us. Trying to get them to follow
protocols by wearing masks and social distancing is not so easy.
As far as our testing, every time we were tested the stress kicked in.
First you would hope they did the test correctly. If the test was negative
that was great. But if the test was positive then you would be looking at two weeks off and no pay. Me and my wife’s
life changed completely. We stopped going out to eat, seldom did takeout, and mainly cooked at home. For our 10th
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