Letter to the Editor

Posted

Dear Editor:

Panic or prep:  How are you coping with Coronavirus pandemic?

Recent editorials comparing America’s vast population with its small percentage of Coronavirus affected citizens could lead us to an apathetic response to this pandemic. 

Odds of contamination seem small when approached from a national perspective, but let’s take a minute to consider how it might affect us at a local level.

Look around.   You are probably in a rural area, a Class 4 city, and served by First Responders and Osage Ambulance.

Osage operates approximately 10 trucks, and a few are Basic Life Support units:  no ventilators.      

An ambulance may require 30 minutes to reach rural patients, and 30-40 minutes to transport to next level care.

Within Central Missouri, there are five licensed ICU hospitals.   Those facilities include SSM St. Mary,  Capital Region, Boone, Lake, and Phelps hospitals.

Those facilities provide 92 ICU beds with ventilators for a population of 400,000 souls. There are 1859 licensed ICU beds to serve all Missouri’s residents.  Precious few ventilators are suitable for children.

By now you realized our local resources are finite.  You face a complicated respiratory virus with few ambulances, few hospitals, very few ICU beds.  So, what are your options? 

Educate yourself on prevention and symptoms of the COVID-19 virus to avoid becoming a statistic.   Stay informed and aware.  Practice determined hygiene and social distancing.  Disinfect surfaces like steering wheels, door knobs, keys, phones, and counter tops, often.   Clasp your hands to keep them away from your face.   Cough into your arm or elbow, not your busy hands.  It may sound tedious, but it is easy.

Panic serves no purpose.  This is a respiratory virus so be cautious about your lungs.  Be good to yourself and your community.  We will get through this together.

Nurture Peace