To move forward...
We need to stop rowing in circles.
I Timothy 2:1-3 A Call to Prayer
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
It is unfortunate that Trump's reassurance strategies in handling the Covid-19 response started so badly.
Today we know that he was working with very inaccurate information. But at that time many accused him of ignoring the alarms to manufacture his own message. They say he shirked his true responsibilities to create campaign opportunities. They discounted and condemned his attempts to alleviate fears and provide reassurance and presented him as a blundering fool repeatedly accentuating his guffaws and misstatements.
There is a problem solving term, called brainstorming, that encourages open unfiltered thinking to foster creativity that is often used in business. Perhaps use of this tactic is good a part of what has created this leader that we so often criticize.
But his frequency makes it easy to agree with those who indignantly judge criticize and dismiss his efforts. It is easy just to conclude that he is a very selfish, self centered person. Doesn't his vociferousness and outspoken personality prove this? Don't his action and words continually invite criticism. What about his support base. How can they tolerate this un-biblical behavior? Doesn't the Bible say...
Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2
Wouldn't he be wise to say less?
But consider? How would you do in his situation? Are there reasons for his steps to be off at times? Could his abilities be intermittently compromised by distraction? And if so, how?
Again, how would you do in his circumstance? Is there a safe place where he can talk freely in the presence of peers and opponents? Can he freely, "Brainstorm," without public ridicule? Can he radically explore options, opinions and outcomes. If you view the mask disinfectant video clip you will see him looking to his peers as though waiting for a response that didn't come. As is so common, in these days of, "maintain the narrative," reporting, there is a portions of the story that the press has ignored.
For a person with such a tough exterior, Trump seems to be genuinely hurt by these attacks. Especially when they betray his privacy, whether through gossip or intentional leaking. His pattern of firing and replacing his team seems to show a deep sense of mistrust, apprehension of eminent betrayal.
More than any of his predecessors Trump's statements are either defensive of his goals, which appear to guide his perceptions, or accusatory of his opponents, who freely harass, demean or accuse him. But not only him, it extends to all he personally cares about, even those who merely associate with him.
More than any of his predecessors Trump has been very self protective when wrong, and very self congratulatory when successful. What do you think created a person so uniquely defensive?
I don't know if you have ever experienced rejection. But seeing the results of the accumulative mass rejection and attacks that we have heaped on this man and his family for the last three and a half years, I am surprised he is doing as well as he is.
Recently I started a new job in a hospital system that emphasized formality over function, after only four months of being singled out and ridiculed, I GOT OUT through early retirement. It was a very difficult time for me. And yet, I was only experiencing hardship at my place of employment. No one harassed my friends or family.
Frankly! I am grateful for Trump's persistence and resilience, even as I was Obama's. I am saddened by his faux pas and the frequent fumbling delays he displays before his BETTER or BEST RESPONSE comes forth. (which is usually quite good). In general, his ability to adjust and self correct has been extraordinary. (Especially considering his novice status.)
There are certain to be volumes and volumes and volumes of Trump misspeaking as he continues to learn on the job in the caustic hostile environment he chose to live in.
So then should Trump get a pass? Should we compassionately accept his flaws and leave him unaccountable for his words and actions?
NO! He is our elected official and has important responsibilities that only he can accomplish. But he also deserves the respect that the weight of his job warrants.
The problem realities of this current epidemic did not originate with Trump. His decisions did not create our culture of shallow, short sighted, metrics driven healthcare. But he is blamed as though he did.
Since the moment of Trump's election opposition leadership has called on their "majority," to disrupt and obstruct our governmental processes. There were even riots and a shooting in the streets of Portland. Years have past since the election and yet this ferocity hasn't let up. If you believe in mob rule by a simple majority then the obstruct, resist narrative may sound good to you. But this is not how we should act in a crisis.
I am grateful to have came from a time where acts of reciprocal cooperation to achieve mutual benefit were considered normal. Not obstructionism, hatred and punishment.
I was in Nursing School during the last pandemic, but political correctness didn't allow it to be called a pandemic, (still doesn't). Anyone that expressed fear or concern was called a homophobe and accused of bigotry. At that time, like today, the cumbersome legalities of State's Rights and the immense array of Food and Drug Administration restrictions hindered quick and comprehensive medical solutions.
With AIDS, the consistent narrative in the press, was shaped by staged activists events where powerful Republicans were accused of passively accepting AIDS, to use as a tool to punish the gay community. The following documentary portrays the sentiments of the time very well.
United in Anger: A History of ACT UP
Bono & Amy; President Bush,
World Aids Day, Today Show Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6yomxZL_nY
And not surprisingly, our current Republican President is continuing the legacy by pushing for the acceptance and funding for what could be the most effective HIV deterrent to date.
Trump wants to eliminate HIV epidemic
| Here's how Feb 6, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DHJ2AtiSbo
Currently Trump is also pushing for quick action in this Covid 19 crisis. He is pushing in the same way that the ACT UP activists did. He has gone rogue compared to past politicians in his effort to mobilize our national response and facilitate testing but in real time, progress seems slow. Perhaps there will be a great ending to a very bad start. I certainly hope so.
Coronavirus: 10 Public Safety Regulations
Set Aside in the Name of Public Safety
Is the HIV global pandemic shrinking? Has the "social distancing model," described as Safe Sex been adhered to? Has our new morality reduced promiscuity and transmission in the general population? Are HIV infections on the decline?
Sadly, the answer is no to all of the above.
The site below reports that there are currently 40,000,000 people (source https://ourworldindata.org/hiv-aids) in the world positive for HIV. Could geopolitical instability cause the retro viral supply chains to fail. Would this population be forced to experience a crisis like this current pandemic? Considering these possibilities, Trump's plan to stop HIV infection is a tremendous goal!
It will be some time before our current global count for Covid-19, of 2,826,573 Cases, and 196,966 Deaths as of April 24th approaches the 40 million number of HIV infections. (source https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/). Through it's course Covid-19 cases will certainly mushroom with extreme estimates expecting to up 160,000,000 global fatalities. As more data becomes available however, these estimates are being drastically reduced.
In perspective, I think Trump is on track in many ways. I think he will follow in the steps of his predecessor G.W. in finding very effective and creative solutions even if they are only temporary, and I pray for God's grace to guide him and his family daily just as I did for President Obama.
If you want to criticize and blame, blame our hospital system leaders and the educational institutions that created them. Together they have failed us in preparing for this inevitable event.
The Coronavirus and Public Policy
Through my 25 years I wrote letter after letter as an employee to my hospital's administrators. Years ago I consistently got cordial and sometimes amazingly effective responses. But in the last years of my career I got no response at all and eventually was singled out for sustained and humiliating corrective action for looking beyond the daily priorities and questioning the routine. This is exactly what needs to happen if we are going to be prepared for these type of, beyond the routine, pandemics.
Never the less, better than blaming, continue to do what you know is right and continue to encourage those around you to do the same!
As Americans we need to stop the destructive blaming and obstruction and get back to the business of DOING what is MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL because there is no getting off this boat for any of us.
And finally. We should seek medical advice from medical sources and political advice from politicians.
The physicians below discuss how unreasonable it is to quarantine healthy individuals for extended periods of time and present the benefits of ending sheltering in place as soon as testing becomes more wide spread.
See full interview with Doctors Dan Erickson and Artin Massihi co-owners of Accelerated Urgent Care in Bakersfield CA.
You will have to wait through the10 second advertisement and it will start automatically
Click link below (not photo)
to see full interview
California Dr. Erickson April 22nd
COVID-19 Briefing
A brief summary with news commentary can be found at this link
https://www.turnto23.com/news/coronavirus/accelerated-urgent-care-doctors-recommend-lifting-shelter-in-place-order
23 ABC News | KERO News
Rebuttal from CA State Authorities
Why aiming for herd immunity to deal with the coronavirus is still a bad idea | DW News
Until the benefits of broader mass testing are available...
Each of us can USE OUR POWER to extend a greater degree of temporary protection to the MEDICALLY COMPROMISED. Through SHELTER IN PLACE and the practices of SYSTEMATIC HYGEINE and SOCIAL DISTANCING.
Through our thoughtful and considerate actions YOU and I CAN help to PROTECT the medically compromised.
Each of us can USE OUR POWER to extend a greater degree of temporary protection to the MEDICALLY COMPROMISED. Through SHELTER IN PLACE and the practices of SYSTEMATIC HYGEINE and SOCIAL DISTANCING.
Through our thoughtful and considerate actions YOU and I CAN help to PROTECT the medically compromised.
Perhaps we should even create an Identification Marker like a RED SCARF to allow the healthy to know who to protect through more effective FOCUSED SOCIAL DISTANCING in the future.
A Success Story from the Past
Several years ago when I was volunteering as Camp Nurse for our church youth group, I had a very challenging experience. It was during the NOROVIRUS outbreak, an outbreak that was so contagious that it completely shut down the mental health unit at my hospital, all of the staff and all of the patients became violently ill. The unit was shut down for weeks of deep cleaning.
A few weeks later we left for our Kidz Kamp offered to grade school aged children with high school and Jr high school aged counselors and helpers. On our departure from the church we had 120 people on two buses going to the camp facility at the beach.
When we arrived, before leaving the buses, I asked the riders if any of them had been around anyone who was sick in the last week. Three girls responded and one said she was feeling, "kinda icky", but also said," I get car sick a lot." Fortunately these three all sat together on the bus and all were assigned to the same cabin at the camp. I talked with their counselors and asked them to keep an eye on the girls and let me know if any thing got worse.
Within an hour one of the counselors was at my door with a girl who had just thrown-up on her mattress. Immediately, I went to the cabin and had all of the Kidz go to wash their hands before closing and locking the door. I asked them to sit together and talk as I went to the local supermarket to get a spray bottle, some Chlorox, 3 pair of kitchen rubber gloves and 3 pair of cheap, small garden gloves.
I mixed a spray bottle of 10% bleach water and had everyone in that cabin hold their hands out to have them sprayed and we sang a washing song. Then I had them go back into the restroom and wash the bleach water off their hands.
I taught the counselors how to clean up the mess wearing the kitchen gloves with bleach water. I taught them how to clean the whole area, "at least twice as big as the mess." and then to do the spray and rewash their hands when done.
I had the sick girl wear the garden gloves with the instruction to always take them off to touch her mouth or face in any way and when she ate or went to the bathroom. After taking them off she was to wash with the spray and then soapy water before putting them back on. I also told her counselors to do the spray, wash, song ritual every time after they touched one of the three girls.
Even though they followed the rules, through the week each of these girls got sick, and eventually their parents came to take them home. Their two counselors and one of the male counselors that helped them also got sick and went home. One counselor became so ill that, I had to take her to the emergency room after she fainted while vomiting. Her mother took her home. The last, the male, rode home with me in my car clutching and retching into a plastic bag as we drove. So of the 120 on the bus, 6 became ill, and only 3 were infected at camp.
I and the others were most fortunate, as at an earlier camp everyone that attended became violently ill!
The key to success?
clear and simple...
clear and simple...
I believe that the garden gloves made it much easier for the sick children to remember to follow the rules of systematic hygiene.
The gloves also made it much easier for those who were not sick to know who they should be more careful with for appropriate social distancing.
We could do the same with a red scarf
or even better
Air Filtering Pressure helmets!
to protect our vulnerable neighbors
from exposure.
As a teaching tool, it has forced us to see the risks we impose on those around us. We are now in a good position to continue as we eventually modify our strategies to provide even more effective protection to our at risk groups.
In addition to wearing masks and washing our hands we could provide this at risk populations with a marker to signify to others that they are isolating and desire more personal space (perhaps 20 feet outdoors). (red scarf or similar marker could be used)
We could also provide pressure filtration helmets for their use to protect them when they are required to be in closer contact like public areas. The electronic health record could be used to identify high risk individuals and trained health care workers could provide teach-back education of the specific best practices to avoid exposure to infection.
In time the rest of us will eventually return to business as usual, even as our most vulnerable may be forced to wait anxiously for a safe and effective vaccine to be created.
We could also provide pressure filtration helmets for their use to protect them when they are required to be in closer contact like public areas. The electronic health record could be used to identify high risk individuals and trained health care workers could provide teach-back education of the specific best practices to avoid exposure to infection.
In time the rest of us will eventually return to business as usual, even as our most vulnerable may be forced to wait anxiously for a safe and effective vaccine to be created.
The costs of providing the (PAPR), Powered air purifying respirator helmet, above would be hundreds of times less costly than our current shutdown and a fraction of the cost of treating the Covid-19 illness in the ICU for just one day. Currently the average hospital stay is 6-days at a cost of $73,000 according to CNBC.
These helmets could be returned after the pandemic and refurbished for future use by hospital staff or the public preparing us for the next pandemic which is sure to come.
These helmets could be returned after the pandemic and refurbished for future use by hospital staff or the public preparing us for the next pandemic which is sure to come.
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