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Covid

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Original poster

Do people realise that covid patients don't wear masks?

258 replies

Arundelclassrom · 01/11/2020 17:05

Just interested to hear if people know this. I see a lot on these threads that people think it's "ok for doctors and nurses because they have effective ppe". Do you realise that masks do not protect you, they protect others from you? Do you realise covid patients who are struggling to breathe do not wear masks? Do you realise they are coughing all over us as we provide care?

I'm not saying this to complain - this is my job and I do it willingly because I care. I'm just getting really frustrated seeing people who apparently think there is no risk involved in my job, and that theirs is somehow more risky than a job where we are in an enclosed space with actual confirmed covid patients...

OP posts:
timeforanewstart · 01/11/2020 20:06

Yes which is why i wonder why some teachers are complaining they can't wear a mask and have no ppe when infact they should be asking for the kids to be wearing masks as a teacher wearing a mask whilst no one else is , won't be getting protected

Natsel84 · 01/11/2020 20:06

@PicsInRed thank you

ChasingRainbows19 · 01/11/2020 20:08

@DivGirl that sounds really appropriate and a luxury but isn’t actual official given guidance. From reading this thread the basic PPE seems far more common to be honest.

Umbridge34 · 01/11/2020 20:08

We had to argue our case to have showers fixed so that we could thoroughly wash ourselves and have a complete change of clothes before we left work after each shift.

Our trust said we must change into our uniform at work and must not leave wearing it.. . They seem to have forgotten they turned our changing rooms into office space. We have 1 toilet to change in.

Lifeisabeach09 · 01/11/2020 20:09

@timeforanewstart

Yes which is why i wonder why some teachers are complaining they can't wear a mask and have no ppe when infact they should be asking for the kids to be wearing masks as a teacher wearing a mask whilst no one else is , won't be getting protected
The govt. should be making school staff, and children, wear masks. Teachers have no power in this. But the govt has left to up to the schools and the schools have no real enforcement powers nor can they do with the flack from the anti-mask lobby.
Iloveknockknockjokes · 01/11/2020 20:10

Our trust is ffp3 for aerosol generating too. Surgical mask otherwise. I'm surprised more people don't know that. I agree it's nauseating listening to people talk about how they are the only occupation in the world taking such high risks.

Original poster
Arundelclassrom · 01/11/2020 20:11

I remember back when this started we saw images of staff in full protective gear on the news. I feel like people imagine this is what we all have all the time!

To all the people saying, oh your trust should do something or your union should do something - that's not the point is it. Yes of course in an ideal world the trust would do something different. But we don't live in an ideal world, we live in this world and this is how it is. None of us are saying we will stop working. We just would like people to appreciate the risks we are taking and not compare things that are incomparable.

OP posts:
Metallicalover · 01/11/2020 20:11

@bumblingbovine49

If you are working with known Covid patients you should have full PPE with proper ff3 level masks with breathing valves that protect the wearer not the person infected and ideally a visor as well . If this is not the case and you are just wearing a surgical type mask then that is truly outrageous and I agree more people should.know above this
How does this work if your going into a patients home who hasn't been confirmed covid but you are going in to assess them for a possible exacerbation of their COPD and then you have to take a COVID swab? We can only wear a surgical mask and some goggles with a plastic apron and some gloves! We wear the specialist masks if we're undertaking aerosol generated procedures. Also if you go to get a covid test the person who takes the test is also wearing a surgical mask
Ilovecheese53 · 01/11/2020 20:13

The uniform thing is an issue too. When my ward was a hot ward we wore scrubs and then we would send them to the laundry at the end of our shift. Now we wear our standard uniform and take it home to be washed ourselves which I think should not be allowed.

timeforanewstart · 01/11/2020 20:13

@Lifeisabeach09 some
Schools have asked students to wear a mask so they can
My ds school masks aren't compulsory but children can wear them if they want and we had letter before half term advising us to get masks in case they decide to make them compulsory

Florencemattell · 01/11/2020 20:14

To all staff working in care homes , GP surgeries and hospitals the biggest thank you !
We do care about you and I think the PPE or lack of needs to be published more widely.

Vivana · 01/11/2020 20:16

I have dealt with over 10 covid residents just this week in very basic ppe and that's non stop for 10 hours. And teachers keep moaning all the time.

Nellodee · 01/11/2020 20:16

So that's quite comparable to my 8 hours with none, then? This is why I get annoyed.

Lifeisabeach09 · 01/11/2020 20:17

[quote timeforanewstart]@Lifeisabeach09 some
Schools have asked students to wear a mask so they can
My ds school masks aren't compulsory but children can wear them if they want and we had letter before half term advising us to get masks in case they decide to make them compulsory [/quote]
Some schools.
My DD (KS3) can wear a mask in the corridor but has to remove it for lessons. Pointless, IMO.
This is why the govt has to form and enforce as mask-wearing policy and apply it to all schools in England rather than passing the buck to schools.

Kitcat122 · 01/11/2020 20:21

05stairway

On the teaching threads they seem to think nhs staff are better protected but it isn’t true. We usually only have the paper masks which a teacher could wear if they insisted/ wanted to. Yes they might be in a room with 30 people and there is the off chance one might be an asymptomatic carrier but its hardly as bad as giving personal care to a patient covid positive and symptomatic.

No! Incorrect I work in a school. We want safer procedures in school. No we cannot wear a mask, as government said not necessarily so my school says no. However that doesn't mean I don't have admiration for the NHS and all you do. Both issues are wrong. You should 100% have safer working conditions. So should we. Xx

Ilovecheese53 · 01/11/2020 20:21

@Nellodee

So that's quite comparable to my 8 hours with none, then? This is why I get annoyed.
Teachers are taking a risk like most people. How can you suspect someone with Covid because of their cough? Ridiculous.

Hospital staff are working with confirmed cases. Up close and personal... coughing and on machines which infection could be blown around the room.

I get teachers are not living it up but put things into perspective FGS would you want to swop your role for nursing right now? Honestly? It would be interesting if we could swop for a couple of weeks.... I reckon you would be gladly saying you take coughing kids any day!

oo0Tinkerbell0oo · 01/11/2020 20:22

Of course the surgical masks aren't enough to protect us when working with Covid patients but that is the guidance given unless at risk from aerosol procedures. If the surgical masks worked then staff would not be dropping like flies with Covid.

Lifeisabeach09 · 01/11/2020 20:24

@Vivana

I have dealt with over 10 covid residents just this week in very basic ppe and that's non stop for 10 hours. And teachers keep moaning all the time.
To be fair, both HCPs and teachers have the right to be pissed off and worried/scared. If teachers want to moan, that's what this forum is for.

Like you, I work directly with covid+ but I know that's what they are and I can 'protect' myself with my basic (if ineffective) PPE. I suppose for teachers--they don't know who has it and they have no semblance of protection.

NailsNeedDoing · 01/11/2020 20:25

While I never thought that all hospital staff would be going about in full PPE all over the hospitals, I didn’t realise that people dealing with confirmed Covid patients would have little more than most people going into Tesco’s. That’s insane.

So why the fuck are we watching people’s lives and livelihoods go down the toilet to apparently protect the wonderful NHS when they aren’t doing the most basic things to protect the virus spreading? No offence meant to you or any other health professionals on here OP, I realise you just follow procedure, but it’s shit like this that leads to people wondering what the point is of following the rules.

Vivana · 01/11/2020 20:28

So that's quite comparable to my 8 hours with none, then? This is why I get annoyed.

Is does not compare in the slightest when nurses and care assistants are dealing with confirmed covid cases and getting up close and seeing to there personal needs which can take a long time often in small rooms with no windows open.

Kitcat122 · 01/11/2020 20:29

Gosh it's the government guidelines that screw us all. Why are nurses and teachers squabbling in here? No one in 2020 should have be at risk in their job.

I am a TA. I have had Covid.

Nellodee · 01/11/2020 20:30

No, I don't suspect him because of the cough. I suspect him because I know damned well he didn't get tested and then within a week 3 people in his class went down with confirmed cases of Covid.

Vivana · 01/11/2020 20:32

Lifeisabeach09

But you could add supermarket workers to the list to as they work long hours around hundreds of people in just basic masks.

Ilovecheese53 · 01/11/2020 20:33

@Nellodee

No, I don't suspect him because of the cough. I suspect him because I know damned well he didn't get tested and then within a week 3 people in his class went down with confirmed cases of Covid.
Didn’t that bubble isolate from the first positive test? So how was he suspected?
Ilovecheese53 · 01/11/2020 20:35

@Kitcat122 I think the squabble is because even though nobody should be put at risk at work many sectors are unfortunately

For a teacher to compare the risk to healthcare staff is insulting by far!