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class=3DMsoNormal><i>Thanks you for that, Dr. Fraser. Thanks for putting this into perspective, Margaret. As moderator of this email list, I'm asking subscribers to please allow me to declare this topic closed. We have all had our opinions aired. My suggestion is that anyone who disagrees with what the authorities have decreed, take it up with them: your MLA, your local councillors, whoever has control over access to public lands in your area. I do want to congratulate you all on being more-or-less reasonable in your arguments. Having a self-regulating email forum does make the business of moderating it a very easy task. Nobody has to get kicked off the list (like in the old days), and we all get back to the business of discussing what's happening in nature around us. For example, today we (Nature Nova Scotia) had an online board meeting, and the minute we were finished I went outside and found the first snake of 2020 ( here on the North Mountain) -- a Red-bellied Snake that probably has not been awake for very long, and a very welcome sight in our garden. It eats slugs. Cheers, and best to all in these troubled times, Doug -- Doug Linzey Administrator, NatureNS e-mail list naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca On 4/26/2020 6:27 PM, Margaret Fraser wrote: > Hi all. I am going to add my 2 cents to this debate. > I am a physician,working in the 2nd busiest emergency department in > the province,after the Halifax Infirmary. I also work as a family > physician with a reasonably busy office practice. > I have,in the past 6 weeks,watched as 2 of my nurses were infected > with this virus from relatively minor exposures,and 15 others sent > home to self-isolate. One of the nurses was in a high risk group. > Several had children. All of them worried they had brought this home > to their families. One of them did. > I worked 2 weeks in my office seeing patients in virtual visits before > it was announced that we would be paid,that is to say,I worked 2 weeks > knowing I might never get paid for the work I had done. I was prepared > to continue this indefinitely, for the safety of my patients and of my > office staff. > Every shift I work in emergency I must wear a mask the entire 8-10 > hour shift, except if I take a break to eat or drink. I can only take > a break if there are not already 2 unionized staff taking their > mandated breaks in our break room,as I am not permitted to removed the > mask in a clinical care area. You can probably guess how many breaks I > get this way. I also must take my temperature,and record it along with > any symptoms I might have like a runny nose,cough,fever etc, at the > beginning and the end of my shift. I also have to change into hospital > issue scrubs,and at the end of my shift wipe my phone,shoes and ID > down with bleach, before showering. When I go home my clothing goes > straight into the washer. I have special scrubs to wear to and from > work. I no longer bother to pack a lunch or snacks. > Although our department is seeing fewer visitors,we are still having > significant wait times. Why? Because each room has to be thoroughly > cleaned after each patient,as we have to assume any of our patients > may have the virus and just not have symptoms,so where we used to have > one cleaner,we now have 5 working their arses off. The OR's are > working in similar conditions. Any person coming in to the hospital is > assumed to be covid positive until proven otherwise. Cancer surgeries > are still going on in our hospital,but nothing that can be put off > such as hips and knees. Why not? Not because we might need the > beds,although we might,but because hospital acquired infection is a > real threat. Go in for a knee surgery,come out with a covid-19 > infection. The very hospitals that house hip and knee surgeries are > also the hospitals with covid units. Keep in mind as well that the > test for this virus,like every other diagnostic test,has a failure > rate,so although the test is negative,you might still have the virus. > Also keep in mind that most hip and knee surgeries are carried out on > elderly patients,the very people meet at risk of dying with infection. > I haven't seen my 81 year old father in 2 months. He's stuck in > Toronto because neither my sister nor myself can quarantine for 2 > weeks and we are not keen to have him enter a flying cesspool at the > moment. > I haven't gone anywhere but work and the occasional grocery shoping > trip in 2 months. > Our hospital system was overstretched before we got into a pandemic. > Do you think it is doing any better now? > Our emergency departments were on their knees begging for help before > the pandemic. Do you think we have it now? > Please,stay home. It is working,we are flattening the curve. That is > the reason we only have 3 cases in the provinces ICU's. No one is > enjoying this,and no one is profiting from this. People who think they > know better should maybe,just maybe,trust that public health knows > what they are doing. This is not indefinite. We will be free sooner if > we all follow the rules. > Stay the blazes home. Please. > Dr. Margaret Fraser > President, Cape Breton Medical Staff Association >
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