• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Healthcare worker Covid 19 Deaths

year2late

IIJAFM
DP Veteran
Joined
May 12, 2013
Messages
24,721
Reaction score
22,238
Gender
Female
Political Leaning
Progressive
I was reading an article on Medscape and it linked me to a list of healthcare workers that have lost their lives.

In Memoriam: Healthcare Workers Who Have Died of COVID-19

Healthcare workers are on the front lines of the global effort to care for patients with COVID-19, while putting themselves at risk for infection. Thousands have already died, from dozens of countries, professions, and specialties. Here we honor them all.

Full disclosure, of the 1800 names (incomplete list) some were not directly covid, but secondary to the extreme stress of taking care of these patients.

I have said this before, I have worked critical care for almost 40 years. Never have I ever seen a nurse become seriously ill with an infection caught at work. Never. I do now.

My heart sank as I read through this list. Just sank. This cannot hit closer to home.

And of course this list says nothing of the healthcare workers that are now going to have to live with significant pre-existing conditions due to Covid-19 they contracted at work.

Wear a damned mask. Wash your damned hands. Keep damned distance. And for the love of God, stay out of friggen crowds!
 
I was reading an article on Medscape and it linked me to a list of healthcare workers that have lost their lives.

In Memoriam: Healthcare Workers Who Have Died of COVID-19



Full disclosure, of the 1800 names (incomplete list) some were not directly covid, but secondary to the extreme stress of taking care of these patients.

I have said this before, I have worked critical care for almost 40 years. Never have I ever seen a nurse become seriously ill with an infection caught at work. Never. I do now.

My heart sank as I read through this list. Just sank. This cannot hit closer to home.

And of course this list says nothing of the healthcare workers that are now going to have to live with significant pre-existing conditions due to Covid-19 they contracted at work.

Wear a damned mask. Wash your damned hands. Keep damned distance. And for the love of God, stay out of friggen crowds!

You may have not seen it but several like Barbara Fassbinder contracted AIDS while treating patients.
 
I was reading an article on Medscape and it linked me to a list of healthcare workers that have lost their lives.

In Memoriam: Healthcare Workers Who Have Died of COVID-19



Full disclosure, of the 1800 names (incomplete list) some were not directly covid, but secondary to the extreme stress of taking care of these patients.

I have said this before, I have worked critical care for almost 40 years. Never have I ever seen a nurse become seriously ill with an infection caught at work. Never. I do now.

My heart sank as I read through this list. Just sank. This cannot hit closer to home.

And of course this list says nothing of the healthcare workers that are now going to have to live with significant pre-existing conditions due to Covid-19 they contracted at work.

Wear a damned mask. Wash your damned hands. Keep damned distance. And for the love of God, stay out of friggen crowds!

It is heartbreaking.

I was just reading the following article:

More than 900 frontline healthcare workers have died of Covid-19, according to an interactive database unveiled today by the Guardian and KHN. Lost on the Frontline is a partnership between the two newsrooms that aims to count, verify and memorialize every US healthcare worker who dies during the pandemic.

It is the most comprehensive accounting of US healthcare workers’ deaths in the country.



As coronavirus cases surge – and dire shortages of lifesaving protective gear such as N-95 masks, gowns and gloves persist – the nation’s healthcare workers are again facing life-threatening conditions in southern and western states.

Through crowdsourcing and reports from colleagues, social media, online obituaries, workers’ unions and local media, Lost on the Frontline reporters have identified 922 healthcare workers who reportedly died of Covid-19.

A team of more than 50 journalists from the Guardian, KHN and journalism schools have spent months investigating individual deaths to make certain they died from Covid-19, ....


Thus far, we have independently confirmed 167 deaths and published their names, data and stories about their lives and how they will be remembered. We are continuing to confirm additional victims and are publishing new names weekly.

The tally includes doctors, nurses and paramedics, as well as crucial support staff such as hospital janitors, administrators and nursing home workers, who put their own lives at risk during the pandemic to care for others.

The early data indicates that dozens have died who were unable to access adequate personal protective equipment and at least 35 succumbed after federal work-safety officials received safety complaints about their workplaces. Early tallies also suggest that the majority of the deaths were among people of color, and many were immigrants. But because this database is a work in progress the early findings represent a fraction of total reports and are not representative of all healthcare worker deaths.

Of the 167 workers added to the Lost on the Frontline database so far:

A majority – 103 (62%) – were identified as people of color.
At least 52 (31%) were reported to have inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE).
The median age was 57 and ages ranged from 20 to 80, with 21 people (12%) under 40 years of age.
About one-third – at least 53 – were born outside the United States, and 25 were from the Philippines.
The majority of the deaths, 103, were in April, after the initial surge on the east coast.
Roughly 38% – 64 – were nurses, but the total also includes physicians, pharmacists, first responders and hospital technicians, among others

At least 68 lived in New York and New Jersey, two states hit hard at the outset of the pandemic, with Illinois and California following.
Some of these deaths were preventable. Poor preparation, government missteps and an overburdened healthcare system increased that risk. Inadequate access to testing, a nationwide shortage of protective gear, and resistance to social distancing and mask-wearing have forced more patients into overburdened hospitals and driven up the death toll.
Gaps in government data have increased the need for independent tracking. The federal government has failed to accurately count healthcare worker fatalities. As of 3 August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 592 deaths among health workers – but the organization does not list specific names and has conceded that this is an undercount.

Read more:

More than 900 US healthcare workers have died of Covid-19 – and the toll is rising | US news | The Guardian
 
Last edited:
Our current heroes.
 
Many months ago there was talk of giving front line workers $25,000.. Of course that went away. As Trump said about the pandemic and all the deaths, 'it is what it is'.. So they got nothing.. And now thanks to the Republicans in the Senate there is no compromise, no help for the millions of unemployed, no help for the front line workers, in other words, no deal..

But hey the Senate got to go hone for the labor Day holiday...lol... 3 weeks before Labor Day... And the front line workers keep dying, and the unemployed have to decide to buy food or pay the rent. Hell of a way to get the economy going again, right?
 
Our current heroes.

Can you imagine being able to throw a lifeline to the men and women who died in 9/11? If you could have prevented it? Or gotten people out of the building safely?

In this case the lifeline is the public wearing masks, social distancing, washing their hands and staying out of crowds.
 
.
You may have not seen it but several like Barbara Fassbinder contracted AIDS while treating patients.

I do not discount her death. But those infections and deaths were few and far between. In general you were more of a threat to them then they were a threat to you. Like I said, in nearly 40 years of critical care, I have never seen a nurse that has become seriously ill with an infection caught at work.

At a nearby hospital that a friend works at they have had 3 deaths (healthcare workers) and many serious illnesses from covid 19.
 
I was reading an article on Medscape and it linked me to a list of healthcare workers that have lost their lives.

In Memoriam: Healthcare Workers Who Have Died of COVID-19



Full disclosure, of the 1800 names (incomplete list) some were not directly covid, but secondary to the extreme stress of taking care of these patients.

I have said this before, I have worked critical care for almost 40 years. Never have I ever seen a nurse become seriously ill with an infection caught at work. Never. I do now.

My heart sank as I read through this list. Just sank. This cannot hit closer to home.

And of course this list says nothing of the healthcare workers that are now going to have to live with significant pre-existing conditions due to Covid-19 they contracted at work.

Wear a damned mask. Wash your damned hands. Keep damned distance. And for the love of God, stay out of friggen crowds!
I suspect it's not just exposure, but viral load. I believe the amount of viral load adds additional danger. Some of those patients are really shedding.

Related: In my city they're currently paying 78 bucks-an-hour for nursing home L.P.N./R.N., at least in one facility that I'm aware (a facility that is Covid hot). That's for four twelves, meaning eight hours a week is time-and-a-half O.T. That's over 200K a year, which is a pretty decent salary considering only an L.P.N. and facilities that - with no disrespect - are consider the lowest starting rung on a nurse's career ladder. Oh, no experience necessary! Right out of the program is fine!

And even at those rates, I know nurses that won't even consider it.
 
Back
Top Bottom