Items
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essential workers
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2021-04-22
Hospice and hospitals during a pandemic
This is a photo of my grandfather's glasses and a blanket given to him by one of the hospice nurses. He passed in April of 2021, not due to Covid. There were still a lot of Covid restrictions put in place by the hospital, and the hospice center. Everyone had to be checked in at the front desk, temps were taken, questionnaires filled out, and the number of guests at a time was limited. He was moved to a hospice facility down the road from the hospital that he had been in. I was spending 10-12 hours a day with him at this time. He passed very late in the night and the next morning I went to pick up his remaining items. Most I gave to my dad, but I kept the blanket and his glasses. This, I believe, shows a broader picture of the pandemic in relation to healthcare during this time. Everyday healthcare still was taking place, it couldn’t just stop, but they had to adapt. I’ve heard stories from social media and directly from healthcare workers about being exhausted due to the pandemic and Covid guidelines. All I can say is that even after being tired and working through horrible conditions for over a year, every person I talked to for the week that he was there was kind and caring. Healthcare for the last two years has focused a lot of Covid healthcare, which makes sense, but this, in my mind at least, serves as a reminder of the continuous healthcare that has always been happening. I am so grateful for the team of professionals that helped and cared for him that last week. -
2022-03-26
Locked In and Locked Down: Surviving COVID-19 in FCI Edgefield BOP
The COVID-19 crisis has impacted mass incarcerated facilities at an exceeding rate, exacerbating existing staffing shortage and leaving those housed in large numbers increasingly vulnerable to COVID-19. The Federal Correctional Institution in Edgefield, South Carolina is no exception to this hardship. FCI Edgefield has be forced to expand its use of a practice called "augmentation" or allowing those in non-correctional roles at the prison to work in correctional officer roles. This is because staff members are getting sick an exceedingly high rate, causing some staff to have quarantine for several days while others have chosen to retire early out of the fear of high exposure and incentives losing way due to the crisis. Since the pandemic has taken off, only a small number of inmates have died from COVID-19, about 50 in total. Yet, due to less experienced staff on site due to shortages, one inmate died due to undermined symptoms on January 27, 2021. Overall, stories like these are important because they show how state officials, lawmakers, and policymakers have made little strides in reducing and slowing down the spread of the coronavirus in state and national prison systems. People like my mother, who works at FCI Edgefield, have preexisting medical conditions that put them at a heightened risk for complications if they were to catch COVID-19. Thus, we should make aware that these state officials have waited too long to make strides towards reducing the prison population, routinely rotating staff, and increasing social distance measures in the jail populations. As the pandemic wears on, much is still needed to be done in prioritizing staff and prison populations for vaccination matters. While this idea has generated some wide societal debate, I find it hard to argue that people who work and live in correctional facilities are at a major disadvantage in this crisis. Therefore, it is only fair to consider these high-risk groups first when prioritizing phases and measures of the vaccines and health and well-being. -
2020
The Essential Worker
Essential workers were publically praised but still got the short end of the stick. -
2020
Social Media Interactions
I thought this interaction represented a common argument nowadays between people who are not as sympathetic to how the world has changed, and someone else who is trying to counter those negative ideas. -
2020-07-15
Wear a Damn Mask
#WEARADAMNMASK So excited to finally share the finished image for #GigiJournalPartII @vmagazine , which is officially on select newssstands! (Link in bio to order online) I couldn’t be more proud to be part of this very special publication, guest edited and creative directed by @gigihadid 💙 A month and a half ago while working on this, I never thought that at the time of the journal’s publication, cases in the US would be surging in 41 states and that hospitals would be swelling. For those who continue to resist precautionary measures and try to argue that the threat of this virus is false, I have family working in an ER full of COVID patients in Tennessee right now, and can promise you this is very real. So please, wear a fucking mask and wash your hands! It’s the absolute least we can do. Thank you to all the essential workers, who now 4 months in, are continuing to risk their lives by going to work every day. This work is in honour if you 💙 -
2020-12-02
Theatre Workshop presents: The Essential Bronx - COVID Stories, Part 1
We have preserved in this short film a selection of Theatre Workshop students' authentic experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and we want to share these stories with you. -
2021-02-07
Supporting Healthcare Workers with Meals & Food Services
Everyone can surely agree that healthcare workers are our everyday heroes. Healthcare workers are the ones who had voluntarily trained and continue to medically assist those who need it without discrimination. All this while risking their own safety and well-being during a deadly pandemic. They are no strangers to long work hours while also having to always stay alert and ready, because quality care can greatly influence someone’s life. Due to most of their time taking care of patients, one can easily see how it can drain their own health as well. Hospitals are not exactly known for their top tier food options either. For these reasons, organizations like Meals for Heroes had worked with food services to help these essential workers with their meals. With the COVID-19 pandemic closing many businesses as well due to safety regulations, we have also been seeing the same businesses (as well as bigger ones) pitch in with meals and more affordable meal plans. Some places are even giving healthcare workers food for free. https://www.uab.edu/fightcovid19/impact/meals-for-heroes https://alabamanewscenter.com/2021/01/20/meals-for-heroes-will-continue-serving-meals-to-frontline-health-care-workers-fighting-covid-19/ https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/free-food-for-healthcare-workers -
2021-02-07
To Mask or not to Mask
Perhaps, it is an American phenomenon. People refusing to wear masks in public places, even when face to face with an “essential worker.” At the start of the pandemic in the United States, when people were closing their doors and staying home, there became a flurry of conversations about essential workers, the people who couldn’t stay home, in order to keep society as we know it flowing. Hospital workers, fighting the unknown; the service industry, continuing to feed and care for people; factory workers and truckers, delivering the stuff people staying home needed, all essential. Unfortunately, there is an ongoing battle that effects everyone: people refusing to wear masks. Some in the medical industry, especially the ones helping COVID patients fight for their life, feel like it is a slap in the face. People in the service industry have to decide between asking somebody to put on a mask and risking being verbally or physically attacked by the person, or risking their own health. I have added a few sources. First, some memes and pictures, thanking essential workers. There is an article from Forbes on how to deal with customers who will not wear a mask. I’ve added a BBC article on why Americans don’t wear masks, but also an article from The Indian Express that shows anti-mask protests in multiple countries. Masks are a pretty simple addition to our lives. Of course, they take a while to get used to, and still leave me sweaty. While they are not a solution for completely stopping the spread of COVID, they do make a difference, and should be taken seriously. The sources I’ve attached tell a small part of the story of how humans have reacted to this pandemic. -
2020-12-04
Meme about Mistreatment of Essential Workers
Meme about essential workers and how hard they work. -
2020-12-02
Food Service Workers Experience Increased Sexual Harassment during Pandemic
These are screenshots from the timesupnow Instagram page. A December 2020 report on food service workers in NY state found that they are experiencing decreased tips when they attempt to enforce social distancing rules and increased incidences of sexual harassment. -
2020-08
Healthcare Heroes Week Celebration
Mayor Zimmerman, Sugar Land Texas, proclaimed August 24-28, 2020 “Healthcare Heroes Week.” The community wants to show their appreciation for all the work they have done and for the sacrifices they have made. -
2020-10-30
Healthcare Heroes Work Here
I wanted to contribute a photo because I think healthcare workers are heroes while providing care and support for their patients during the pandemic. I thought it would be easy to find still find a sign just as this but honestly, I did not find many (campaign signs took over many yards and corners). I do not believe this is a reflection of the community because I still think that the community views all healthcare workers as heroes for working on the front line of this virus knowing the dangers they put on themselves and their families. From conversations I have had with healthcare workers they are making sure their patients are receiving the best care and making sure they do not feel alone since they cannot have family by their side. I know the sacrifice they make but they make it so that we can get through this together. -
2020
Inside and Outside, At Home, Spring 2020 Semester, Brooklyn
This submission interweaves the personal and professional experiences of an associate professor in the Brooklyn College Library with references to events happening in the larger society during the months of the COVID-19 pandemic through early October 2020. -
2020-07-15
COVID uniform
This is a picture of my sister on her first day on the COVID unit as St. Joseph's Hospital. She was transferred from the Neuro-ICU because the size of COVID admissions. The managers put a strong focus on the importance of gearing up, they were told specifically that "nothing is an emergency" but after the first few days she learned that wasn't the case. It typically takes about 4 to 5 minutes to get completely geared up to go into a patients room. The problem is when a patients O2 levels drop hard and fast. Then the nurses are faced with the choice to go in without proper protection or take the time to get geared up. Nurses face life and death situations normally, a pandemic just amplifies it to a level that no one was prepared for. -
2020-06-01
Life During Covid-19 Digital Pop-Up Exhibition
Students in Dr. Michael J. Kramer's Digital Methods for Historical Projects seminar at SUNY Brockport share stories about one object from the spring of 2020 during the Covid-19 Pandemic, https://brockportkramer.com/covid19/. Alan Gowans—Getting Past Personal and Public Anxieties Carson Werner—The Day Baseball Stood Still Cecil Frazier—Double Standards Gilberto Diaz III—Memes of COVID-19 Education Jared Rosenberg—Diary From a Mini-tunnel Joe Lasky—The Twitch and the Rosary Jordan Aviles—Music and Other Necessary Items Joseph Massaro—Music as an Escape From (and Turn to) the New Abnormal Leslie Hoag—TikTok-ing History Connections Nate Mundt—Recognizing First Responders Ryan Gibbs—Am I Doing It Right? Samantha Symonds—Saving Lives or Saving the Economy? Sebastian Phipps—Living In a Twenty-First Century Pandemic Steven Willard—Brutal and Grim Realizations Will Secules—Bringing The Office Home -
2020-04-08
Garage Art: Thank You Essential Workers
A family in Walnut Creek is using their garage door to send various messages during the COVID-19 pandemic. This message reads "Thank You Essential Workers." The art has been a source of community, inspiration and hope for Walnut Creek residents. -
2020-05-05
Professional Seafarers are Covid Essential Workers
My covid-19 story started at the end of January, 2020. I was working as a Marine Operations Manager for Holland America Group, which is comprised of four cruise companies: Holland America Line, Seabourn, Princess Cruises, and P&O Australia. As covid-19 spread across Asia in January, we stood up our Emergency Response Center, which involved taking 12-hour shifts to support the ms Westerdam, which had been denied docking in multiple ports in Asia as a result of the covid outbreak on the Diamond Princess. Though there were no covid cases onboard the ms Westerdam, she was denied docking in Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam, Guam, Philippines, and Taiwan. Our job was to ensure that our full complement of guest and crew had enough fuel and provisions, with toilet paper being of critical importance (seriously!), to make it until we could find a port that would allow the ship to dock. Eventually, the Cambodian government allowed the ship to dock in Sihanoukville to disembark guests, which became a political photo op of good will for Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen who attended the ship himself when it docked. But this story was just the beginning of the nightmare for cruise companies, and other maritime organizations. After working to disembark guests, the next hurdle was to repatriate crew, which was next to impossible with the extreme disruption to global travel, some crew members had spent months longer on the ships than anyone could have ever envisioned. Using our ships like ferries, we made plans to transport crew to their homes, but to compound the problem, local governments like South Africa and Mauritius were unwilling to accept their own nationals back when the ships arrived, which meant they had to keep sailing and further plans had to be made to get the crew home. What you see in the object attached is the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and that of its member companies making a humanitarian appeal in their interactions with local port authorities who were blocking their own citizens from returning home during this crisis. We were working long days, 7 days a week to get our colleagues home - but there is only so much you can do when local authorities will not cooperate. The object speaks to a desperate time in the maritime industry during the covid-19 pandemic. (Arizona State University, HST 580) -
2020-07-29
Paint The Void: Health Care Workers & Art
Health Care workers partnered with the Paint the Void project to bring community, life, hope, art and culture to the San Francisco Bay Area. The goal of this partnership was to create a project to say "thank you for sheltering in place" and "thank you for supporting us" to the community on behalf of San Francisco's essential workers. Paint the Void has created over 91 murals across San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland. This specific mural tells the story of how interconnected people are and how an act of kindness has the ability to improve life conditions for the entire community. The title of the mural is "How we care shapes who we are." The spirit of community is represented through this specific mural and the Paint the Void initiative.