#16,923
As part of my blogging routine, several times a day I search Twitter using terms like `COVID Variant' - which invariably turns up hundreds of conspiratorial COVID tweets - claiming that the virus doesn't exist, the pandemic is fake, and that the virus is nothing but a mislabeled (for nefarious purposes) `flu'.
Trying to convince these people otherwise is probably futile, and frankly, I haven't the patience to try. But if you have any lingering doubts, or are simply curious how bad things really are in your neck of the woods, there is an easy way to monitor COVID's impact on your community; emergency radio scanners.
Although I have a police/fire/EMS scanner app on my iPad, I've only used it a few times during local emergencies, like hurricanes or prolonged power outages. I consider it part of my general preparedness, but not something I tend to think about or use very often.
But earlier this week a friend (who is an RN) asked me about police scanners, with the idea of monitoring local ambulance calls for COVID.
Rather than buy a scanner, I recommended she use one of the many free (ad supported) online services, or download an app for her phone, before investing in a radio receiver or paying for an app.
This led me to listening for a few hours to my scanner app over the past 3 days, and to the surprising number of COVID emergency calls being handled by a local EMS.
I say surprising, because I chose to listen to the emergency stream from Hernando County - a relatively small county about an hour north of Tampa (and me) - with a population of just under 200,000.
My reasoning for selecting Hernando County instead of listening to Orlando, Miami, or Tampa - all large metro metro areas with populations over 1 million - was that their large size might skew my perception of call volume.
With a population of 200K (less during the summer), Hernando seemed a better representation. Besides - I have a personal connection - 49 years ago I took my EMT training at Lykes Memorial Hospital in Brooksville, the county seat of Hernando county.
As a paramedic, I've subsequently worked both large metro areas (Phoenix, AZ), and smaller service areas (St. Petersburg & Bradenton, Fl), and did so during the infamous H1N1 pseudo-pandemic of 1977. I've even pulled a few dispatch shifts in my day, so I have a pretty good feel for what constitutes `busy' for a county like Hernando.
Normally, August is a slow time for EMS calls in Florida. The snowbirds have gone north, and call volumes can be half of what we see over the winter (see ‘Tis The Cardiac Season).
Not so this year, however. Although I've only spend a few hours listening, it is apparent that EMS/Fire units here are handling a high volume of calls, and many of them are either COVID positive or are tagged as `Isolation Alerts'.
Often, dispatch warns the responding crew that the `entire household is COVID positive'.
Lest anyone think these are just old people with serious comorbidities, 2 days ago local media reported that a 29-year-old Citrus County EMT dies from COVID-19, Justin Berleth was both a firefighter and EMT, and was preparing to begin his paramedic training.
Citrus county lies adjacent to, and north of, Hernando county.
Yesterday, the CEO of Oak Hill Hospital in Brooksville addressed the Hernando County County Commission, and reported:
- They have 133 COVID-positive patients out of our 309 total patients in the hospital
- They've had to dedicate five nursing units to COVID.
- They are close to having their ICU being filled with COVID patients.
- That 25 patients in the ICU have COVID-19. 17 are on ventilators, ages from 25-75
- Of the patients on ventilators, 14 are under the age of 65.
- Only one had been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Admittedly, this is but one small microcosm, nestled in a semi-rural region of Florida, but it probably represents much of the United States right now. Hospitals are overrun with COVID patients, with healthcare workers overworked, exhausted, and at high risk of infection themselves.
Importantly, this is August - traditionally the nadir of respiratory illness season - and yet hospitals are barely coping. Things could get really dicey if influenza, RSV, and other winter ailments return this winter alongside COVID.
For a reality check of what is really going on with COVID in your community, I can't think of anything more sobering, or informative. than listening to your local EMS, Public Safety, or Fire/Rescue scanner traffic for a couple of hours a day.
Knowing how much COVID illness is in your community just might convince you to take a few extra precautions in public; wearing a facemask, avoiding crowds, and getting vaccinated if you haven't.
And while you're at it - as you listen - give a thought to all those who work every day to serve and protect both on the streets and in the hospitals, and who occasionally pay the ultimate price for their service.
