Tag: ppe

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Why you should wear a mask, explained.

Why should I wear a mask? Here’s why:

Masks provide “source control”—blocking the spread of respiratory droplets from a person with active, but perhaps unrecognized, infection. A study published in Nature showed that surgical masks are effective at blocking 99% of respiratory droplets. Double-layered cotton masks, the kind most of us have been making at home, can block droplet emissions as well. And the Sars-CoV-2 virus doesn’t last long on cloth; viral counts drop 99% in 3 hours. A recent review of the research suggests that if at least 60% of the population wore masks that were just 60% effective in blocking viral transmission (i.e. a cloth mask), the epidemic could be stopped. Read that again. If just 2/3 of us would wear masks, COVID-19 COULD BE STOPPED.

I don’t think this is asking a lot. If you have to wear pants in public, it is not much more burdensome to wear a mask.

Cloth and surgical masks don’t fit tightly, so it is hyperbole to say you can’t breathe. Maybe it is not as comfortable, but you can breathe air coming in around the sides. They are designed to safeguard others, not the wearer. The basic logic is: I protect you; you protect me. Benefit to the wearer may be limited, but it’s not insignificant: surgical masks reduce inhalation of respiratory-droplet-size particles by about 75%. Two-layer cotton masks filter about half as much, though a good fit can improve that considerably. Masks also prevent wearers from touching their noses and mouths.

Evidence of the benefits of mandatory masks is now overwhelming. Our hospital system would not be able to stop viral spread without them. So yes, you should wear a mask. I protect you and you protect me. We’re in this together, let’s beat this virus together. Thanks for sharing this info and wearing a mask! .

Thanks also to @atul.gawande for providing the majority of these statistics! .

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National Doctor’s Day

It’s March 30, 2020, and it’s national doctor’s day. But this year is unlike any other. It has been trying times recently for physicians. Even before the pandemic, burnout was 46% and the physician suicide rate is the highest of any profession. Physicians have been frustrated trying to shuffle paperwork, and serve hospital systems and insurance companies when all we really want to do is take care of patients.

Now our situation has shifted. In a pandemic, we no longer have time to worry about our failing American health system—we have to act. And physicians everywhere are acting. They are stepping up to take care of the surges of people with COVID-19 in our communities.

As a hospitalist on this Doctor’s Day, I start a string of shifts caring for patients infected with COVID-19. Every physician I know caring for COVID-19 patients is experiencing higher levels of stress ever (and we know stress). But we also feel more alone than ever as we distance ourselves from our families, friends and colleagues in order to protect them.

What can you do to support physicians for Doctor’s Day 2020?
1. Just reach out and connect. It means so much to us to hear from you, and to remember we are working for YOU.
2. Donate PPE if you have any. We can’t take care of you if we are ill ourselves.
3. Stay home. PLEASE. I am literally begging. The chant “We go to work for you. Please stay home for us” are just as much for as it is for us. There are only so many beds. Don’t make us choose who gets them.
4. Remember all of this when it’s over. Because this will end… and after the pandemic has subsided, please remember that physicians were there. Despite personal anxiety and concerns for our own safety and our families, we keep showing up to take care of you. So sometimes we have bad days too. We, like you, are human, and we’re doing our very best.
As for me, I will approach Doctor’s Day more seriously than ever. Some of my colleagues have died from COVID-19, and we will lose more before we’re through. I will continue to use Doctor’s Day as a time to reflect on my place in this calling. I hope we all remember—not just on Doctor’s Day—the sacrifices physicians make. . . . .

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I am giving it all I’ve got.

This decade has been a doozy for me. Has it been for you, too? Over this past decade, I left the practice of law, broke off an engagement to pursue my dream of medicine, attended and graduated medical school and two residencies, wrote and published a book, moved into and out of a three states, completed my yoga therapy and 500-hour teacher trainings, led many yoga retreats, made friends, lost friends, fell in love, had my heart broken… and in some ways, I ended up right where I began. That’s right, 10 years ago, I was living in San Diego, and 10 years later, I have found my way back here. Teaching at the same studio (Prana), enjoying time with some of same people (that’s you, Nico), driving home to see my parents with the same dog (Rusty)… yet I, the Ingrid that was a decade ago, is so different. My heart is different. My soul is less rigid. My heart feels flexible and accepting. My soul feels open and ready. Instead of judging, I seek to listen. Instead of fear, I choose hope.

Halfway through my medical training, I almost lost hope. Seeing so much “unfairness” and suffering life (and death)… watching how human stories unraveled in the most heartbreaking ways… it almost broke me. But somehow, with the support of amazing friends and mentors, I went from thinking: “We’re all going to die, what’s the point?” to “Wait. Yes. We are all going to die… THAT’S the point!” I went from thinking that everything was hopeless and meaningless to realizing that our time is so short, so fast. And that was incredibly freeing. It made me embrace all the clichés, all the inspirational quotes. Because life IS short. So, I had better do what I can with the time I’ve got.

So here I am, giving it all I’ve got. Staying open to it all. Not knowing where this decade will take me. Knowing there will be twists and turns. Uncertainties and fears. But doing my best to keep my heart open to whatever may arise. Because… that’s the point