Just got off the phone with one of my closest friends, who is an ICU nurse at one of the biggest hospitals in the Bay Area. I'm going to share a few quotes from that conversation because I think it's hard for people to understand exactly what hospital workers are going through rn
"No one is ok."
"It's PTSD but continuing trauma. For a year and a half, it's been trauma all day. I've been like this for half of my child's life."
"There are no beds. I don't want to turn away immunocompromised people who got vaccinated & are seriously ill for anti-vaxxers."
"So many people said they didn't want to get a vaccine because it was 'experimental,' only to ask for a bunch of 'experimental' treatments once they get ill. Like you want remdesivir? Here's the waiver saying you agree to an experimental medication."
"I feel like everyone has abandoned us. It's like we're Vietnam vets who never wanted to go to war but were shunned with they came back anyway."
"No one wants to work in healthcare anymore."
"It takes a lot of courage to walk into a unit and care for infectious patients and then come home to your unvaccinated child."
"I'm tired of people calling me a Nazi."
I'm sharing her words because I don't have any good ones of my own right now. This is affecting her and her coworkers in horrifying, devastating ways. Please, please do everything you can to support the people who risk their lives to care for us.
Oh and she tried to do a nanny share with another family & they wouldn’t let her bc they didn’t want their kid around kids with parents who worked in a hospital (bc of potential exposure). Clearly, if everyone did that, there’d be fewer nurses to care for you/your family if sick.
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Unbelievable. This is literally not possible with fentanyl and has been debunked by basically every expert in the field. Maybe fact check before just posting a video a police department gave you. Linking to my story about why this narrative is bullshit. inverse.com/mind-body/fent…
Don’t take my word for it, take *the American College of Medical Toxicology and the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology’s* word for it
Anyway, I think it’s great that CNN uncritically parrots drug war propaganda, just A+ journalism
I’m going to write about this soon, but I have to say this bc I keep seeing ppl talk abt it & I have no self control: having to show a vax card ISN’T A HIPAA VIOLATION. HIPAA means your doc can’t disclose your medical information without your permission. That’s it, that’s HIPAA.
You can be asked to show proof of a vaccination to enter an establishment. You can refuse. They can prohibit you from entering. Everyone has a choice here
Idk why people always try to make HIPAA into something it’s not.
Again, it’s not a violation of HIPAA. But just thinking about the spirit of HIPAA—it’s so an illness you have can’t be disclosed without your permission. We’re trying to vaccinate like 99% of the population—this is hardly personal, fraught information.
In some states, remote healthcare workers are being offered the vaccine before first responders, grocery store workers, and their 70+ year old parents. And they feel guilty as hell about it. My latest for @thedailybeastthedailybeast.com/these-remote-w…
It’s easy to think they should have just given their spot to someone higher risk. But that is explicitly prohibited.
In Maryland, all healthcare workers, even those working remotely, were in the first phase. Now the state is running out and high risk/high exposure essential workers are SOL (for now). washingtonpost.com/local/dc-virgi…
I haven't said much about Robin Williams today bc...it makes me sad/I'm uncomfortable w/ feelings. But...
We went to same 12-step meeting for years. We never said more than hi bc...what would I say? I love your movies? Anonymity is kind of a big part of said meetings. (thread)
But he always gave you this kind of knowing smile when you said hi to him. Like he knew you knew who he was and that you probably felt awkward/excited just being around him and he was grateful you weren't making it a thing.
He kept a very low profile but he was unfailingly kind.
People organized a comedy night fundraiser for an underfunded something, but no one wanted to ask him to do a set bc...it was too "we know who you are." They just asked for volunteers.
12 years ago today, I woke up in an ER with a .4 BAC and cop explaining I was on suicide watch. I didn't know it then, but it would be the last time I drank alcohol. Since then, I've learned a few things about addiction I'd like to share in case anyone finds them useful. 🧵
1) there is no one right way to get sober. There’s a right way for you, and that’s all that matters. I try very hard not to shit on any recovery programs that have helped people. This is a potentially fatal condition, purity tests are harmful, cruel, and utterly ineffective.
2) Medication is not antithetical to sobriety; it is often a very necessary part of it. Find yourself a doctor who understands addiction and be unfailingly honest with them. Ignore judgment from randos. I repeat: purity tests are harmful, cruel, and utterly ineffective.