COVID-19 Local Resource Guide

More documents

Recommendations

Info

How Rutland Regional Medical Center prepared for peak outbreak CEO Claudio Fort says hospital is “ok for now” on PPE By Polly Mikula Health services Courtesy of Rutland Regional Medcal Center Rutland area nurses train at Castleton University’s Spartan Arena, which was converted to a surge location for 100-150 non-Covid-19 patients, should demand at Rutland Regional Medical Center exceed its capacity. Emergency contacts • Call 9-1-1 for all emergencies. • Call your primary care physician or a community health clinic if you are sick or think that you have symptoms of Covid- 19. • Department of Childrens and Families: 1-800-649-5285 or dcf.vermont.gov/ cdd/covid-19 • Domestic and sexual abuse: 802-775-3232 or nscvt.org • Vermont State Police: 802-244-8727 or vsp.vermont.gov/covid19 On April 2, Governor Phil Scott announced new steps in the state’s plan to prepare for a surge in Covid-19 cases, and in turn, the need for additional hospital and medical capacity. “While we hope we will not need this extra capacity, our modeling indicates we must be prepared for a significant surge in medical care to treat Covid-19 patients. We are taking these steps to ensure we are as prepared as possible for what could come,” Scott said. The plan added 950 beds, at surge sites, to the 662 currently available beds throughout the state. Rutland Regional Medical Center added 100-150 of those and constructed the site at Castleton University’s Spartan Arena. “Rutland is proud to support these efforts to address increased medical need due to Covid-19,” said Claudio Fort, president and chief executive officer of Rutland Regional Medical Center. “Our teams are working closely with all of our health care partners to protect our staff and keep our communities safe.” It was a regional effort. Firefighters from City of Rutland Fire Department and Rutland Town Fire Department laid down the floor at Spartan Arena. “It takes a community, and we thank these first responders for stepping up and ‘stomping’ that floor,” RRMC wrote on its Facebook page. While earlier in April the surge sites seemed prudent, by the end of the month it seemed unlikely that they’d be utilized. Before RRMC would have a need to utilize the Spartan Area surge location, it would first open up other areas of the hospital: “Once we exceeded the capacity within the hospital we’ll move to alternative care sites outside the hospital,” said Fort. When the hospital converts a section, wing or floor, to handle more Covid-19 patients, it converts the space to be a “negative pressure area,” explained Tom Rounds, RN and director of the RRMC Emergency Department, during an interview with Tom Donahue of BROC on PEGTV. To create a negative pressure area “machines draw down the pressure in that space and exhaust it out of the building,” he said, which helps protect the other patients and the staff from airborne pathogens and helps to reduce the spread of the virus. RRMC prepared > 26 Rutland County health clinics: Community Health Centers of Rutland Region Rutland Allen Pond 71 Allen Pond, Suite 403, Rutland, VT Phone: (802) 772-7992 Rutland Stratton Road 215 Stratton Road, Rutland, VT Phone: (802) 773-3386 Brandon 420 Grove Street, Brandon, VT Phone: (802)247-6305 Castleton 275 Rte 30 North, Bomoseen, VT Phone: (802)468-5641 West Pawlet/Mettowee 278 VT Route 149, West Pawlet, VT Phone: (802)645-0580 Shorewell 2987 VT Route 22A, Shoreham, VT Phone: (802) 897-7000 Common Street Health Center 145 Allen St, Rutland, VT Phone: (802) 773-1321 Convenient Medical Care 25 N Main St, Rutland, VT Phone: (802) 775-8032 Park Street Healthshare 145 State St, Rutland, VT Phone: (802) 775-1360 Express Care Castleton 275 Route 30 North, Bomoseen, VT Phone: (802) 468-5641 ClearChoiceMD Urgent Care 173 S Main St, Rutland, VT Phone: (802) 772-4165 Specialty: Killington Medical Clinic 3902 Killington Rd, Killington, VT Phone: (802) 422-6125 Rutland Regional Behavioral Health 1 Commons St, Rutland, VT Phone: (802) 747-1857 Rutland Community Based Outpatient Clinic (Veteran’s Hospital) 232 West St, Rutland, VT Phone: (802) 772-2300 Covid-19 info resources • The Vermont Department of Health: healthvermont.gov/covid19 • Vermont 211: Call 2-1-1 or text your zipcode to 898211 or visit vermont211.org. • Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development: accd.vermont. gov/covid-19 • The World Health Organization: who.int • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov • Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center: coronavirus.jhu.edu 4 • Covid-19 Local Guide • April 24, 2020
How can you help prevent getting the virus? • Stay at least 6 feet away from others. Stay at home as much as possible. • Avoid close contact with people who are sick. • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. • Stay home when you are sick. • Cover your coughs and sneezes with your sleeve or a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. • Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe. Do not flush wipes. • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. • If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. What are the symptoms ? Symptoms reported for patients with Covid-19 include mild to severe respiratory illness: fever, cough, shortness of breath. Call your health care professional if you develop symptoms and have been in close contact with a person known to have Covid-19. Find more information on the Health Department’s website: healthvermont.gov/Covid19. What should I do if I think I may have Covid-19? Isolate at home: Don’t leave home, except to get medical care. Call ahead before visiting a health care provider or emergency department. Most people with mild illness can recover at home. While there is no specific treatment for Covid-19, you should get plenty of rest, drink plenty of fluids, and take feverreducing medication if needed. As much as possible, stay in a specific room in your home and use a separate bathroom. Stay at least six feet away from others in your home at all times. Don’t share household items. What about my pets? If you are sick, have someone else care for your pets. Although no animals have been reported to get sick with Covid-19, people with the virus should limit contact with animals until more information is known. Just like other objects, it is thought that the virus could live on the surface of your pet for some amount of time. If you do care for your pet, wash your hands before and after. When can I stop isolating? People with Covid-19 who have stayed home (home isolated) can stop home Need to know Answers to Vermonters’ frequently asked questions isolation, even without a negative test, under the following conditions: • You have had no fever for at least 72 hours (that is three full days of no fever without the use of medicine that reduces fevers) AND • other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved) AND • at least 7 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared If testing is available to you then you can stop home isolation after: • You no longer have a fever (without the use medicine that reduces fevers) AND • other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved) AND • you received two negative tests in a row, 24 hours apart. (CDC guidelines may change, so always adhere to the current protocol.) Can people who recover from Covid-19 be infected again? The immune response to Covid-19 is not yet understood. Patients with another type of coronavirus, MERS-CoV (also known as MERS) are unlikely to be re-infected shortly after they recover, but it is not yet known whether this is true for people sick from Covid-19. What is isolation, quarantine and self-observation? Isolation is for people who are sick with Covid-19. Quarantine is for people with no symptoms and who were in close contact with someone sick with Covid-19 or are returning to Vermont from out of the state. Self-observation is for other Vermonters who don’t have symptoms (something we should all always be doing). How long can the virus live on surfaces? Per CDC: Current evidence suggests that novel coronavirus may live for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials. According to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Covid-19 virus is viable for up to 72 hours on plastics, 48 hours on stainless steel, 24 hours on cardboard, and four hours on copper. It is also detectable in the air for three hours. But there are certainly a lot of conflicting reports. Dr. Rick A. Hildebrant, chief medical information officer and medical director for hospital medicine at RRMC, said the virus “lasts the longest on stainless steel for some reason. For paper, it seems to last for about 3 days,” he added. So with paper masks and paper respirators at the hospital they simply put them in a bag for five days “then we consider them sterilized,” he said. The same could be done with your mail, he suggested. Is it safe to grocery shop? Currently there is no evidence to show that Covid-19 is spread through food or food packaging. However, there is concern about the ability to keep physical distance from other shoppers and to reduce your risk of getting sick while getting groceries. The Vermont Retail & Grocers Association has a regularly updated list of what retailers and grocers throughout the state are doing to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. These services range from limited delivery, to curbside pickup and designated shopping hours for vulnerable populations. Visit vtrga.org. Anyone who is sick or thinks they might be sick should stay home. Ask a family member, friend or neighbor to help you get your groceries, or see about having food delivered. When you leave the store, you should wash your hands or use hand sanitizer. What soap is best? “Broadly speaking there are two kinds of soaps that you can buy: there antibacterial soaps and then there’s nonanti-bacterial soap,” explained Dr. Rick A. Hildebrant. “This is not a bacteria so an anti-bacterial soap is not going to be any more affective than a regular soap… just make sure you are washing your hands appropriately,” he said referencing a meme “imagine you’re chopping up jalapenos and then you have to take your contacts out, use that level of diligence washing your hands and you’ll be sure that you’re appropriately cleaning them.” Do homemade face masks work? Dr. Rick A. Hildebrant summarized this the best, saying, “Paper masks prevent others from getting your sickness. It only works if everyone wears them because then those who are sick won’t be infecting others (many might not know they’re sick). “N95 respirators actually filter 95% of the particles that you inhale. They are designed to protect health care workers from getting ill from others. “Yes, cloth and paper masks work if everyone wears them but they do not protect you individually from getting ill,” he said. Just to be clear, he recommends everyone wear them in public. Just as the governor does. I have a second home or a seasonal home in Vermont. Can I come to Vermont? If you are a second or seasonal homeowner (including an RV located in Vermont), you are encouraged to stay in your primary home unless you don’t have other options. If you do travel to Vermont from out-of-state, you must do a 14-day quarantine as soon as you arrive and comply with all of the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order. How will we know when it is safe to relax social distancing? Leaders around the world are constantly working with scientists and other experts to come up with plans to relax stay-at-home orders and reopen the economy. The risk is opening up too much too quickly and causing the virus to ramp up again, potentially causing another spike of cases. Most agree that testing has to be available to everyone that shows even mild symptoms with contact tracing to quarantine all who may be contagious to limit viral spread. Governor Scott’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order extends through May 15. But some relaxing measures have been put in place and more are likely to follow. For more information visit apps.health. vermont.gov/Covid/faq. Covid-19 Local Guide • April 24, 2020 • 5
Page 1 and 2: A local resource guide Covid-19 101
Page 3: Covid-19 101 New and cumulative cas
Page 7 and 8: Food services By Jason Mikula Killi
Page 9 and 10: Social services HERE for YOU EVERYD
Page 11 and 12: Social services Local pharmacies st
Page 13 and 14: Telemedicine brings accessible and
Page 15 and 16: Social services Living with Covid-1
Page 17 and 18: Social services Types of loans and
Page 19 and 20: Q&A on financial assistance The sta
Page 21 and 22: Social services Courtesy of VT Heal
Page 23 and 24: Battling wifi connectivity issues?
Page 25 and 26: Social services Caring for pets, li
Page 27 and 28: Social services How can I help my c
Page 29 and 30: Social services Stay Home. Stay Saf
Page 31 and 32: Thank you sponsors We wanted to tha

COVID-19 Local Resource Guide

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?