Cluster of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Cases Among Protected Health Care Workers

Canada Communicable Disease Report ^ | May 15, 2003 | CCDR staff

[riri]

I will call Monday in the guise of asking her if she needs anything, which I would like to do anyway. But, in all honesty probably would not do if I were not so hyper-aware at present time.

My daughter played with her daughter Tuesday, at the time she did not tell me about the fever (long story), so I am a little nervous about it.

[Judith Anne]

You are in an icky situation, aren't you...

[riri]

Yeah, well, admittedly sometimes it gets hard to tell if my worries are reality based or some kind of self induced hysteria.

Oh well, they just drove by when I was out tendin' to my flower bed. She was driving so, I guess that means one of two things.

1. She's taking him in to the ER.

2. He's feeling well enough to go out on a Saturday afternoon, but not well enough to drive.

I'm off for a while, see you all later.

[Judith Anne]

You are NOT hysterical, but sometimes you are cute and funny...;-D

[maica]

I just talked to a friend in British Columbia and designated hospitals there have SARS Units set up, just in case, and excellent dissemination of this kind of infection control information already among hospital stall.

[Judith Anne]

Thank you for posting that information. Sounds like they're well ahead on the learning curve...

[steve86]

I will never be intubated

I have come to the same conclusion about intubation although I spend far too much time worrying about it, this from a person with no history of respiratory problems.

Here is a question about ventilation procedures: Is the intubation procedure we hear about accomplished by inserting the tubes down the throat (sure to cause gag response), or does it sometimes involve a tracheotomy?

I guess once all the ventilators are already occupied by other patients we won't have to worry about it.

[Judith Anne]

It can be through the mouth or through a tracheotomy (a cut into the windpipe). Some have permanent tracheostomies that allow suctioning and ventilator breathing as needed, such as with AML, MS, or spinal cord injuries.

[maica]

Oops! stall = staff

[FITZ]

I guess once all the ventilators are already occupied by other patients we won't have to worry about it.

That's the good news ---we probably won't have to worry about being intubated. When my grandfather was in his 70's he got pneumonia but he kept showing up for work even though the doctors and everyone else prescribed bedrest ---he claimed with pneumonia it is very important to move around, keep your circulation going and that laying in bed helped your lungs fill up with fluid and was the worst thing you can do.

[CobaltBlue]

I was intubated once for a stomach tube, which went down the nose but into the esophagus and then stomach. I don't have much of a gag reflex, so even though I struggled a little bit, it wasn't an ordeal.

My husband also had a stomach tube, for a medical experiment, and they sprayed his throat with novocaine, and he said he had no trouble at all.

Is putting a tub into the trachea harder than into the esophagus? Because I don't think it's worth dying over, especially if you can talk them into using a novocaine spray to kill the gag reflex, or maybe sedation.

Anyway, my mother had a thoracotomy and three chest tubes but is over it and back to her old life, although it weakened her considerably.

[CobaltBlue]

Tub=tube.

[CobaltBlue]

Your grandfather must have strong lungs. My mother's lungs got so full of fluid that she had to lie still otherwise she'd cough and then not be able to breathe. But she's usually sedentary, she does office work.

I think your grandfather is right that keeping active helps keep the lungs clear of fluid.

[FITZ]

His other theory was to sleep sitting up at about a 45 degree angle instead of laying flat in bed so that the fluid would drain better. It always made sense to me because if you are up moving around, your fluids are going to get pumped out and flowing better. Now doctors say bed rest is the worst thing for heart attack patients ---and before they would prescribe it ---because blood clots form during bed rest when circulation slows way down.

[Travis McGee]

These nurses and doctors are unsung heroes, fighting in the trenches against an ivisible killer.

I wonder when they will get their parades?

[Judith Anne]

I've had an NG tube put down twice, too, for checking the stomach (NG= nasogastric). NG tubes are much different, to a certain extent, the patient can swallow and help the tube on its way, and you are right, the gargle (or spray) helps.) NG tubing can be put down either the mouth or the nose. A lot of patients vomit on insertion.

"Intubation" in common usage usually refers to the breathing tube inserted into the lungs through the mouth or the trachea into the lungs and it's much trickier to insert in most instances because the cough reflex is triggered all along the way, and that can be a very violent reflex, involving the entire body.

Anyone who wants to correct me here, please do...

[Judith Anne]

We use pumps that look like big balloons wrapped around the legs and connected to machines that massage the legs continuously to keep the blood moving and prevent clots.

They work great...it's a neat invention...

[Judith Anne]

Who wants a parade? I just hope there's enough staff when the time comes so that we won't need to work a whole lot of overtime...

[Travis McGee]

Good one!

[Judith Anne]

If you knew how tired our feet get...LOL! A lot of us nurses wear those nice plump athletic shoes, the ones that make your feet feel like you're walking on air...still we get tired feet...I use Vicks on my feet to keep the skin soft and healthy (and cool!), cotton socks, foot spray between the toes, and powder in the shoes...I have several pair and wash them (in bleach) frequently..I spend as much time on them as I do on makeup. ;-D My feet are in great shape, but I'm not taking any chances... I don't want to march in ANY parades.