Real PPE is for people running the real risks

Yesterday I spent the day at one of our school buildings, collecting and sanitizing Chromebooks to be distributed to families so their students can go on with Distance Learning. It was amazingly good to get out of the house, see a different part of town, see some co-workers in the flesh. We all wore masks (the homemade, cloth kind), and stayed out of arm's reach of each other most of the time. We handled the Chromebooks and chargers with gloves on, wiped them with antiseptic wipes, bagged them in filament garbage bags.

Driving back to district headquarters in the loaded van, we passed a ZoomCare clinic. There was an ambulance parked outside. They were bringing a man out on a gurney and transferring him to the ambulance.

A white man, sandy-haired, in an oxygen mask. From what I could tell, middle-aged or younger. Craggy features.

People go to ZoomCare for a lot of reasons: maybe he complained of stomachache, and they diagnosed acute appendicitis. Do you assume the worst? or hope for the best? He was surrounded by emergency personnel (besides ZoomCare and the ambulance, there was a fire engine at the scene). Most were wearing PPE, but I couldn't tell if all were.

I clutched my cute, colorful, home-made mask. It has dinosaurs on it. It was made by someone in our neighborhood who puts them out in boxes, with a sign asking people to take one, and please be safe.

Health care workers may account for as much as 11% of COVID-19 infections. Not all states are tracking infections and deaths by occupation. The nationwide shortage of PPE continues.

Available! High-Voltage Lines, Knocking from Inside