Won't someone please think of the children?

With both houses of Congress half full of fools, the next pandemic will be hugely more difficult than necessary.
Without Fauci, even more.

You make good points about preparation and the Fed's goals. Shutting down the face to face economy even partially to protect ERs is something I'm guessing the government won't have the guts to do next time.

Direct care folks were sacrificed last time and will be sacrificed next time. I serve a number of families who have wage earners working in nursing homes. They're pretty low income and most have low education so they're easy targets for misinformation especially from their administrators. There is a huge pressure to not mask because it is a problem for that emotional attachment with patients.

Those of us whose ftf was temporarily shutdown last time can't expect that next time. I'm on the cusp of retirement so I'd probably just take the financial hit, others won't have that choice. I'm hopeful that I die outside of a nursing home.

The following is classified TL;DRUB (Too Long; Don't Read Until Bedtime)

griff wrote:

There is a huge pressure to not mask because it is a problem for that emotional attachment with patients.... I'm hopeful that I die outside of a nursing home.

That high pressure includes threats. Those patients (called residents in nursing homes, it's a dignity issue) represent income (regardless of source - private pay/insurance/Medicaid) and the customer is always right even if it kills them and/or others.

Direct care workers are told that universal precautions (wearing mask, gloves, gown) stigmatizes residents which causes them to be isolated from social interaction. Workers are told that wearing masks, without specific authorization, is a dignity issue that constitutes resident psychological abuse and can result in employment termination, credentialling loss, criminal charges.

Direct care workers are told that nursing home residents must be treated as though they are free of medical conditions that would require using masks until an official diagnosis is made by competent medical authority even if the resident won't be evaluated by such immediately. Direct care workers overstepping their credentials could face employment termination, credentialling loss, criminal charges.

Direct care workers in some States are prohibited by law from leaving their assigned duties until properly relieved. Those who leave because they weren't allowed to wear masks when common sense told them they should, for their own welfare and to prevent disease spread to other nursing home residents, may be subject to employment termination, credentialling loss, criminal charges.

Direct care workers are prohibited from caching epidemic/pandemic contingency supplies of universal precautions items. Sometimes they're lucky to have enough to get through a routine 4-day holiday weekend. Why should nursing home owners and managers budget for that when they can just wait for the government to get around to declaring an emergency and giving them freebies at the taxpayers' expense. Until then, the direct care workers can beg, borrow, steal or buy their own; or else, they may be subject to employment termination, credentialling loss, criminal charges, morbidity and mortality. This is how the status quo is maintained.

Direct care workers rarely face disciplinary action during a healthcare crisis (excepting those who walk off the job); because, the nursing homes can't replace them fast enough. When the crisis is over, nursing homes can use the infractions to eliminate longtime direct care workers who are now wary and replace them with younger, cheaper, and less aware workers. Nursing homes can do all the above with impunity since State and Federal governments will do anything to avoid running nursing homes themselves. Other than that, nursing homes are a great place to be... just like the military is a great place to be except during wartime. 

Anon wrote:

 As with most threats, the onus is on the individual to be prepared.

After a threat from SARs, the Obama administration, using facts discovered by the George Jr administration, setup a government structure to respond to such potential disasters.

Fortunately the death rate from SARs was something above 60%.  So it suddenly disappeared.

Then Trump took office.  Completely destroyed a structure to address pandemic problems.  Of course.  Extremists know who to work for.  While using tweets to lie; saying something else.

Boris Johnson did something similar.  Netanyahu is doing it now.
 

I assume tw is talking about the CDC staff positions the Trump administration eliminated in China.

The Obama-Biden administration came out with a 69 page "Playbook" of procedures to be used AFTER the emergence of a biological threat.

Then, for the next EIGHT YEARS, what they DIDN'T do was:

Preposition strategic reserves of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) around the country for rapid distribution to the population.

Contract for PPE delivery with USPS et. al. to get PPE into everyone's hands.

Designate National Guard medical units for dedicated support to civilian medical treatment facilities in densely populated areas.

Allocate funding for this ounce of prevention even though it's still worth a pound of cure.

The Obama-Biden administration did nothing to give future implementation of the Playbook a running start. It was insufficient without preliminary preparations. It was a political panacea in response the potential biological threat that the Bush administration raised awareness to. After the Obama-Biden administration said Look, We Made A Plan!, they shelved it and left the real work for some future administration.

It's like giving someone a plan on how to repel a military attack; but, no soldiers, weapons, ammunition or vehicles... they'll have to find those things for themselves after the attack begins. Don't worry though, the need to find those things is in the plan!

USELESS. 

 

 

OTOH, look at what that forward thinking Trump did. He came out with a Playbook for repurposing post-pandemic unused surplus personal protective equipment. His Playbook targeted surgical masks and had but one page due to his ingenious use of advanced concepts like A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words. It'll never become outdated. Here's a copy for ya... Image Link BORDERLINE NSFW.

[edit by Clodfobble: Picture removed because it was borderline NSFW and people come here during W]

[edit 2 by Anon: Link added because TEH FUNNY and similar material has been included via link by others here before without controversy.]

Last edited by Anon (6/12/2024 4:49 pm)

In the back and forth we've found a need to preposition materials, improve surveillance, cut a deal with third world countries for vaccine distribution and production, and somehow depoliticize the response. You all have your assignments, good luck!