"I am a spouse of a Dialysis RN. In-clinic dialysis patients are some of the most health-troubled people around; rarely is someone on kidney care without having first (or subsequently) having other organ failures. This means they are the most vulnerable to CV19."
"On top of that, because they must receive supervised treatment, they will have multiple dialysis HCW around them at any given time, who themselves are simultaneously hospital staff (RNs keep multiple jobs)."
"That's bad enough, but here is where the shit really hits the fan: hospitals can't take in-clinic (aka Hemo) dialysis patients because they farmed that activity to 3rd parties years ago as chronic care"
"These outpatient clinics are not ICUs and so don't have ventilation systems setup for protection against contaminated air exchange (i.e. negative pressure rooms/tents). Think of what happened on the cruise ships, and multiply that by a couple magnitudes."
"I reached out to state emergency services and nat’l Kidney Community Emergency Response team. Response was 'CDC guidelines say to protect against aerosol', and dialysis (even though it involves direct blood exchange) is not considered an 'aerosol generating procedures'."
"I think dialysis nurses need PPE and these facilities should at least vent isolation room air onto the roof tiles and wrap doors with intake-only-seals."
"Sadly, I'm having a hard time convincing even my RN spouse that this really is critical, not just because people don't believe it is *yet* that bad, but for fear of retribution: 'I can't fight the whole system!' The tension really is palpable."
