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Post by iowaimpact on Apr 7, 2020 11:17:41 GMT -8
Good Afternoon! So thankful for the information that has been shared here so far! I am the team leader for the ACT team operating in Iowa City, IA. While Iowa itself is not a "hot spot" right now, Johnson County (Iowa City area) has been one of the epicenters in Iowa and had the first COVID-19 patients in the state. Our ACT team operates out of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, so we are VERY fortunate to have the resources and guidance of a major medical center to help us navigate these scary times.
OK, on to my question! Our team has made several changes to the way we are operating, but one area that seems to be up for debate is transportation of clients in our vehicles. What are other teams doing about this? Are teams in "hot spots" transporting at all?
Our current face/face visits protocol: 1.) Limit one "outing" per week for clients needing assistance with transportation to purchase essential items (food, toiletries, etc.). 2.) While in the vehicle with the client, staff wears surgical mask at all times. 3.) Staff wears hard protective face shield when within 6 feet of the client (injections/medication set-ups) in their homes. 4.) Staff wears surgical mask when assisting clients in the stores/shopping. 5.) We have received an offer from a community member to provide high-quality hand-sewn face masks to be distributed to our clients, we will ask that they wear these when they are out with us. 6.) Remain flexible and meet clients where they are at! All of this can change in 24 hours!
Thanks for any input! Leah Appell, IMPACT Team Leader leah-appell@uiowa.edu
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Post by Lannie Rowney on Apr 9, 2020 10:00:22 GMT -8
In Milwaukee, WI my teams are not transporting at all, as we are a "hot spot". We have been making lists with clients and obtaining needs with out them present but using their monies. We are keeping THE SOCIAL DISTANCING, 6 ft away and making all clients meet with us outside not in their home/apartments if at all possible. We have became extremely creative, we are using pharmacists at this time in giving IMs as our nurses have yet to obtain protective gear.
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Post by lorna on Apr 9, 2020 10:15:54 GMT -8
Good Afternoon! So thankful for the information that has been shared here so far! I am the team leader for the ACT team operating in Iowa City, IA. While Iowa itself is not a "hot spot" right now, Johnson County (Iowa City area) has been one of the epicenters in Iowa and had the first COVID-19 patients in the state. Our ACT team operates out of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, so we are VERY fortunate to have the resources and guidance of a major medical center to help us navigate these scary times.
OK, on to my question! Our team has made several changes to the way we are operating, but one area that seems to be up for debate is transportation of clients in our vehicles. What are other teams doing about this? Are teams in "hot spots" transporting at all?
Our current face/face visits protocol: 1.) Limit one "outing" per week for clients needing assistance with transportation to purchase essential items (food, toiletries, etc.). 2.) While in the vehicle with the client, staff wears surgical mask at all times. 3.) Staff wears hard protective face shield when within 6 feet of the client (injections/medication set-ups) in their homes. 4.) Staff wears surgical mask when assisting clients in the stores/shopping. 5.) We have received an offer from a community member to provide high-quality hand-sewn face masks to be distributed to our clients, we will ask that they wear these when they are out with us. 6.) Remain flexible and meet clients where they are at! All of this can change in 24 hours!
Thanks for any input! Leah Appell, IMPACT Team Leader leah-appell@uiowa.edu
Our UNC ACT teams first started with continued transportation with very thorough wiping down /sterilizing protocols after each ride. That quickly shifted as numbers were increasing, running out of sterilizer (some went to making their own), and increased awareness of the number of asymptomatic people who are out there. My suggestion is to now really dig in to prepare people for stay at home, and as Lannie mentioned below -- arrange for ways in which you all can purchase items for them (ideally, you can get a grocery gift card of some sort to do this -- from them directly or via a payee). If grocery store does curb side pick up, there may be creative ways to go through list together and you or they call in/order online (opportunity to talk through budget and choices given budget). I'd start really thinking of all ways to limit visits in closed spaces. As you likely know / see -- it's amazing the exponential growth so the sense of safety will change very quickly for everyone. I think this calm before the storm (but it's really not -- concern is the amount of spread happening when you are not aware of it yet) -- is also a time to really be talking about leisure activities -- do they want/need puzzles, source for music, phone, what areas around their residence may be good to get out for a short walk; if you did stock them up with food for 2 weeks, how much of that do they know how to cook; where can you help people get more oral meds on hand to limit the frequency of needing medication visits, etc. And yes, personal needs assessment is critical still -- there will be some who still need some level of physical staff interaction (but following safety protocols) THANK you all for the work you are doing.
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cindy
New Member
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Post by cindy on Apr 10, 2020 5:31:42 GMT -8
Hello all, I am the team leader for an ACT team in Southeastern KY. Our ACT team is limiting transporting clients as much as possible and are going to the grocery store for them when they need stuff. In the event we do have to transport someone, such as for an injection, we were able to access a van through our agency and we have clients sit in the very back row so we can still practice social distancing. We also still wipe down/sanitize the vehicle after transporting each client.
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