Hearing About Flattening The Curve While Listening to Dr Mike on YouTube As He Discuss Coronavirus.
I try to get information from multiple sources online. One of these sources is Dr Mike who is a family physician in the United States. In one of his latest videos titled ‘We NEED More Testing Kits!’, I came across a concept which I had forgotten about. At 2:10/11:40 he quickly refers to ‘Flattening The Curve’:
… Here in United States, we simply do not have enough ICU beds if everyone is to get this virus simulatenously, so by slowing the rate at which this virus infects others we doing “Flattening the Curve”
What is the concept of Flattening The Curve?
A large number of people using limited resources at the same time will saturate and overwhelm the system. The system can provide better care if the same number of people access these resources over a longer period of time (versus all at once).
When it came to public health, disease prevention and elimination of spread were at the core of my thoughts. Now I have learned that slowing the spread of disease is not necessarily a total defeat. Even a slow down, is a success in better access to care (in the highly contagious disease when total isolation and zero spread is unrealistic).
You can watch the full video using the link below:
As healthcare providers, we can better educate the public about the nature of the disease and proper hand hygiene. Also, we can encourage unnecessarily gathering of people in public spaces. As a group, we can look after the vulnerable population.
On a personal note, my wife, who is feeling fine, cut her business trip short due to the quickly evolving situation with COVID-19. I purchased food and supplies to last her at least two weeks. I left for my parents before her taxi got to our place. She has decided to follow the recommendation of self-isolation for two weeks. We are lucky that my parents live close by and are more than happy to have me for the two weeks. Of course, it is not easy being apart even longer than planned, however it is a small price to pay for the greater good (especially when as an RT, I have face to face interactions with patients at work).
Farzad Refahi
http://respiratory.blog/flattening-the-curve/
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