(Portion of a protocol letter from Henry Ford Health Center, posted on Twitter, concerning the emergency protocols for treating novel coronavirus patients in the event of an emergency triage situation where supplies become limited.) A document has been circulating on social media that purports to explain new COVID-19 procedures from
The dead, whoever they may be, in the WH will not sway Mr. I Only Live in the Present one way or another.
My issue, and it's clearly not mine alone, is that the president* and the administration came into power with a visceral hatred for the federal government and this has driven all their decisions w/r/t the agencies, the federal budget, legislation, and more. Slashing CDC funding, eliminating in 2018 the very WH group that would have been planning for an inevitable pandemic, gutting agencies to the point that they have lost vast amounts of institutional knowledge that is irreplaceable (no, we can't just hire them back) have left the federal government unable to respond to a national crisis. Combine this with a vengeful, shallow, and insecure president* whose personal vendettas are aimed, at the moment, at the states with the most widespread infection numbers (NY, CA, WA, ultimately MA too), and we have the scenario of potentially thousands of unnecessary deaths. This is the perfect storm of incompetence, ignorance, sycophancy, cowardice, and mismanagement that many many people knew was coming when trumputin got elected.*
I'll repeat a point I have frequently made to my friends on Facebook: Our dear leader has absolutely no problem with dead people in "blue states" (especially if they lived in major urban centers) because, the way he sees it, they probably didn't vote for him anyway, and yes, I truly do believe that he is making that determination. If (for example) the outbreaks were centered in Charleston (South Carolina), or Birmingham (Alabama), or Dallas, you can be certain that he would be rushing ventilators to those cities.
Triage is one thing. Triage based on lack of equipment in "the richest country on earth" is another matter altogether. We must hold Trump and Co. accountable for their decisions to ignore the health needs of certain states. This is an intentional action on their part. This is "on purpose," not oversight or poor planning or anything else. We must acknowledge their malfeasance and hold them responsible for it, not only in terms of blue states or troublesome governors not receiving federal support, but also in terms of the handling of this entire pandemic situation, from December 2019 to the present--and the future. #RememberInNovember
We knew, deep down this would come to pass, but to actually read it is chilling. I know we should not live in the past, we must move on. But I have to ask. What were the steps/protocols outlined by the Obama Admin? Because of tRump's obsession with Obama, the playbook was destroyed and the team was dismantled. This is all on tRump.
Everyone who has worked in a situation like this whether it be from a train wreck, a massive car accident, or a mass shooting understands situations can always overwhelm resources, leading to the green, red, black triage of casualties at the scene. That said, our HC system for the past four decades has been squeezing staff to care for more with less. This is partially the result of that bean counting and paying HC executives MILLIONS in bonuses for keeping costs down.
This isn’t surprising. I read an article where Italy was having to let critically ill COVID patients die to save resources for the patients who had the highest chances of survival. I’m scared for these health professionals and their mental health in having to make these horrendous decisions.
The hospitals have to be prepared with a policy if the situation develops; while no one in the White House Situation Rooms dares develop a policy to assist the hospitals. This is pure negligence by the Trump Administration.
In that worst case situation, where a hospital makes a decision to withdraw the ventilator
from a patient not likely to survive, I suggest that the family and/or significant others of that dying person be allowed either visiting privileges ( in a separate wing of the hospital, if necessary) or super-support in a program for letting the family take that person home among their loved ones. The loved ones can buy gloves and fashion masks and gowns for themselves and be at their loved one’s side.
My 76 year- old mother in law, with COPD AND several other
medical problem was in a ventilator for nearly 2 and 1/2 months. My husband knew that her wish was to keep living. A discussion about pulling the plug occurred and my husband let the docs know her wishes. She was slowly weaned off the vent and lived for more for than TWO MORE YEARS!
The dead, whoever they may be, in the WH will not sway Mr. I Only Live in the Present one way or another.
My issue, and it's clearly not mine alone, is that the president* and the administration came into power with a visceral hatred for the federal government and this has driven all their decisions w/r/t the agencies, the federal budget, legislation, and more. Slashing CDC funding, eliminating in 2018 the very WH group that would have been planning for an inevitable pandemic, gutting agencies to the point that they have lost vast amounts of institutional knowledge that is irreplaceable (no, we can't just hire them back) have left the federal government unable to respond to a national crisis. Combine this with a vengeful, shallow, and insecure president* whose personal vendettas are aimed, at the moment, at the states with the most widespread infection numbers (NY, CA, WA, ultimately MA too), and we have the scenario of potentially thousands of unnecessary deaths. This is the perfect storm of incompetence, ignorance, sycophancy, cowardice, and mismanagement that many many people knew was coming when trumputin got elected.*
I'll repeat a point I have frequently made to my friends on Facebook: Our dear leader has absolutely no problem with dead people in "blue states" (especially if they lived in major urban centers) because, the way he sees it, they probably didn't vote for him anyway, and yes, I truly do believe that he is making that determination. If (for example) the outbreaks were centered in Charleston (South Carolina), or Birmingham (Alabama), or Dallas, you can be certain that he would be rushing ventilators to those cities.
Triage is one thing. Triage based on lack of equipment in "the richest country on earth" is another matter altogether. We must hold Trump and Co. accountable for their decisions to ignore the health needs of certain states. This is an intentional action on their part. This is "on purpose," not oversight or poor planning or anything else. We must acknowledge their malfeasance and hold them responsible for it, not only in terms of blue states or troublesome governors not receiving federal support, but also in terms of the handling of this entire pandemic situation, from December 2019 to the present--and the future. #RememberInNovember
At least they put into print what every hospital has probably already implemented. Trump is killing people daily.
We knew, deep down this would come to pass, but to actually read it is chilling. I know we should not live in the past, we must move on. But I have to ask. What were the steps/protocols outlined by the Obama Admin? Because of tRump's obsession with Obama, the playbook was destroyed and the team was dismantled. This is all on tRump.
Everyone who has worked in a situation like this whether it be from a train wreck, a massive car accident, or a mass shooting understands situations can always overwhelm resources, leading to the green, red, black triage of casualties at the scene. That said, our HC system for the past four decades has been squeezing staff to care for more with less. This is partially the result of that bean counting and paying HC executives MILLIONS in bonuses for keeping costs down.
This isn’t surprising. I read an article where Italy was having to let critically ill COVID patients die to save resources for the patients who had the highest chances of survival. I’m scared for these health professionals and their mental health in having to make these horrendous decisions.
Not especially shocking. This is what triage is. It's the administration's lack of addressing the problem that will tie the hands of hospital staff.
The hospitals have to be prepared with a policy if the situation develops; while no one in the White House Situation Rooms dares develop a policy to assist the hospitals. This is pure negligence by the Trump Administration.
Dear Shero,
In that worst case situation, where a hospital makes a decision to withdraw the ventilator
from a patient not likely to survive, I suggest that the family and/or significant others of that dying person be allowed either visiting privileges ( in a separate wing of the hospital, if necessary) or super-support in a program for letting the family take that person home among their loved ones. The loved ones can buy gloves and fashion masks and gowns for themselves and be at their loved one’s side.
My 76 year- old mother in law, with COPD AND several other
medical problem was in a ventilator for nearly 2 and 1/2 months. My husband knew that her wish was to keep living. A discussion about pulling the plug occurred and my husband let the docs know her wishes. She was slowly weaned off the vent and lived for more for than TWO MORE YEARS!