No lie ... don't put it past me!  We are running low but we are conserving.  I've actually seen nurses staple the elastic straps back onto their masks when one breaks just to spare using another.  The outpouring from the community has been amazing ...  I have come home to find homemade fabric surgical masks made by neighbors on my doorstep, we've had numerous people bring unused or extra N95 masks for donations, local businesses are donating inventory.  And my son is spearheading a community project to deliver more than 500 homemade surgical face masks to the ED and frontliners in the next few weeks!  We are thankful, and we couldn't do this without you!

Also, we are so thankful for the outpouring of meals and snacks that the community continues to provide!  Chick-fil-a has fed us multiple times, Longhorn Steakhouse provided BBQ dinner one night, Congressman Lynn Westmoreland and Senator Matt Brass provided pizzas for the entire hospital, and we continue to receive various snacks, treats, and goodies from so many of you.  THANK YOU!  I promise .... it's the little things that add wind to our sails!  

Though volume and acuity in the ED are picking up, it's not full throttle yet ... we're still waiting.  The mornings tend to be "q-word" (I won't say the word) but it gives us time to stock up our rooms and PPE carts in anticipation for the day.  Patients begin rolling in late morning and it builds throughout the day with many admissions at night.  Most are considered R/O (Rule Out) COVID patients at triage because they are presenting in such a variety of ways now ... even what we would have considered a nephrolithiasis (kidney stone) patient under normal conditions are sometimes pinging COVID-19 when CT scanned now.  

It's a little disconcerting at work because fellow nurses and doctors are just vanishing ... you'll be half-way through your shift and realize you haven't seen so-and-so in a while.  When you start asking you find out they've been sent home or quarantined or developed symptoms.  You're not sure who's just not working that shift or who's sick.  And I do believe that overall management is keeping it quiet as to not create panic among staff.  It is true that a med-surge nurse collapsed in huddle the other morning and had to be emergently intubated.  It is true that several of our staff have now tested positive for COVID-19 but thankfully have been discharged home to self-quarantine til better and asymptomatic.  It is true that a float pool radiology tech was found deceased in her home last week and autopsy confirmed Corona.  The number of admitted R/O COVID patients is growing every day.

We are facing new situations unprecedented until now.  A family decided to withdraw care from a patient I was caring for yesterday but because of our strict no-visitor policy only his wife was able to tell him good-bye.   It's a harsh rule .... but it's necessary.  We HAVE to limit exposure ... we HAVE to break the chain whenever and however possible.  It's our BEST defense until we get ahead of this thing.  It's ahead of us, and until we catch up we've got to stay home and help flatten the curve ...