HGG Community Forums

I am so so sorry this is happening. How terrified you must be.

I am so very sory this is happening ; its very scary how horribly this virus is striking those who need the most help. You, your Co-workers and the Inhabitants of the facility are in my prayers for a swift and healthy recovery.

I am so sorry to hear that. Prayers to you all and bless you for what you do.

So sorry to hear that. I hope everyone gets through this alive. Take care of yourself, and make sure to pace yourself.

I’m also high risk. I live with my parents and my dad works. He protects me from COVID-19 by wearing an N95 mask every time he goes to work. He never takes it off at work. When he needs to eat, he goes to his car.

I understand that you need to work, but you can keep your girlfriend as safe as possible at the same time by using the highest quality mask you can find at all times (and wearing it CORRECTLY, which means it must actually cover your nose).

Here are the types of masks from least effective to most effective (don’t use a bandana or scarf, that does absolutely nothing because it is not designed to filter out the COVID-19 droplets, they can go right through the fabric): cloth mask, surgical mask, N95 (NOT KN95) mask.

I don’t know if this means much, but I am very proud of you for not abandoning your residents, especially when they don’t have anyone else to help them.

Just do the best you can, because that’s all you can do.

Unfortunately I do not have access to the N95 masks. They told us months ago we would be fitted for them, but never bothered to follow up and refuse to give a reason as to why we don't all have them. I had to carrying on this morning to get them to give me the best mask we've got (kn95) which I have to alter because my head is apparently freakishly small and it covers my eyes/gouges my throat. We also wear gloves & goggles during direct care. They will not provide me with any other ppe. I am a total mask nazi at work, harassing my coworkers (whom I should NEVER have to convince to do their job keeping people safe, and yet...) and I literally go no where other than walmart (for groceries) and tractor supply for critter food. My girlfriend works retail which is putting her at risk, either way. :( If it weren't for my individuals, I would be happy as a clam to hole up at home and avoid everything!

Thank you, everyone, for letting me vent my fears and giving me some much needed support! You guys are wonderful.

No, I'm happy to have the kn95, but I have to cut it at the top and bottom so I can wear it. I had to harass them into letting me have some and they told me to wear each one for several days before getting a new one out. I guess I'm just going to have to squeak louder at work to make them provide me with the bare necessities so we can keep people safe. They've got boxes and boxes of them sitting in locked offices. It is state run, so I guess I shouldn't expect anything other than this madness. My union has been, um, less than helpful, bowing out of any sort of confrontation about ppe and forced over time. Their solution? File a grievance and we'll send it to Harrisburg where it will get filed in the trash can. That was literally the response one of our stewards gave me. Fun times, fun times.

You’re right, I forgot, there are a few good KN95 masks now, but during the first few months of the pandemic most of them were faulty and provided even less protection than a cloth mask, so it’s wise to be careful which KN95 masks you use.

@annismyrph Yup, good old PA. The problem with drawing media attention is that for the past 6 or seven years, the state has been pushing to shut down all of the state centers and move our people into the community. There are 5 centers left, two of which (Polk & White Haven) are slated to close within the next three years despite lawsuits brought by family members of residents. Since we are the most centrally located in the state, any residents they can't place in the community will be transferred to us. With negative media coverage, the push to shut us down will become more extreme. No one takes into consideration that our people have lived here for sometimes 60 or 70 years (their whole lives!) and they do not do well with community placement. Lots of them perish withing three to six months of placement.

We must check in at the beginning of every shift - temp check & list of questions to be answered - and we just got the message that five of the staff checking people in have come up positive. They are in contact with EVERY SINGLE staff person in the building including dietary, nursing, OT/PT, housekeeping! I'm going to go in full bio-hazard gear soon, complete with lysol 'side arms,' if I can find a suit cheap enough!

I can only aspire to that - reality would have me macing myself with the lysol, running away from the pain into a closed door and groaning on the floor from the ensuing concussion.
I do have funny little story showing just how incompetent I am... For Veteran's day, the center put up the wood "shadow" cut outs of soldiers saluting, kneeling with rifles, standing at attention, etc. They placed them at the main entrance to the building to either side of the sliding doors. When leaving work yesterday after putting in a few hours of over time, I walked out the door and knocked myself silly on "Mr. Saluting Soldier's" protruding elbow. The same elbow I have managed to walk past for three weeks without mishap. Of course, there had to be a group of people out smoking when it happened as I almost careened down the front steps. I guess it just added a little levity to an otherwise stressful day, so I just shook my head and stumbled off to the car to check the damage in the rear view mirror. Nothing but a little goose egg, but I sure am a menace to myself!

I hope he is doing well and he can come home soon!