BUT WITH THE POTENTIAL SURGE OF CORONAVIRUS CASES, ARE HOSPITALS
PREPARED FOR WHAT IS POTENTIALLY
AHEAD?
AHEAD? JOINING ME NOW, DIRECTOR OF
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY’S NATIONAL
CENTER FOR DISASTER
PREPAREDNESS, DR. EARLIN
REDLENER.
REDLENER. SO WHAT ABOUT THIS CONTAINMENT
ZONE IN NEW ROCHELLE.
WHAT EXACTLY DOES THAT MEAN?
>> IT’S AN EFFORT TO DEFINE A
SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHIC AREA AROUND
THAT PARTICULAR SYNAGOGUE, WHICH
IS THE INITIAL POINT OF CONTACT.
HOWEVER, YOU KNOW, THE GUY WHO
FIRST TESTED POSITIVE WAS
COMMUTING BACK AND FORTH TO NEW
YORK CITY ON BUSY COMMUTER
TRAINS.
TRAINS. HE WENT TO GRAND CENTRAL
STATION, WALKED TO HIS OFFICE,
ET CETERA.
ET CETERA. AND THE OTHER ISSUE IS THAT THE
ONE-MILE ZONE IS FAIRLY
ARBITRARY, BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT
CLOSING ALL THE SCHOOLS IN NEW
ROCHELLE.
ROCHELLE. THERE ARE FAMILIES THAT HAVE
KIDS --
KIDS -- >> SO WHAT’S THE POINT?
>> THE POINT IS TO TRY TO DO
SOMETHING TO CONTAIN THE SPREAD
OF THE VIRUS.
BUT IT’S ALREADY THE BEGINNING
SIGNS OF A WILDFIRE OF SPREAD IS
WHAT WE’RE DEALING WITH.
>> SO YOU’RE SAYING, EVEN THOUGH
THEY’RE TRYING TO DO SOMETHING,
THIS IS JUST TOO SMALL SCALE?
>> THE MAIN THING IS IN THE
BACKGROUND, WHAT WE HAVE IN THE
UNITED STATES RIGHT NOW ARE WHAT
I’VE BEEN CALLING RANDOM ACTS OF
RESPONSE, BECAUSE WHAT SEATTLE
IS DOING, IS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT
ORLANDO IS DOING, DIFFERENT FROM
NEW YORK CITY, ET CETERA, ET
CETERA.
CETERA. AND I THINK THIS HARKENS BACK TO
TWO BIG ISSUES THAT THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO DEAL WITH,
WHICH IS THIS UNCONSCIONABLE
ABILITY TO TEST LOTS OF PEOPLE
THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN INVOLVED
MANY, MANY WEEKS AGO.
AND NOW WE’RE BEHIND THE EIGHT
BALL, BECAUSE WE’RE MAKING
REALLY IMPORTANT DECISIONS ON
SEQUENTIAL PUBLIC HEALTH MOVES
THAT ARE GOING TO BE DRAMATIC,
IS NUMBER ONE.
THE SECOND THING IS, IT’S TIME
FOR THE CDC TO STOP PUSSYFOOTING
AROUND HERE AND COME UP WITH
VERY SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS, NOT
SUGGESTIONS, SO THAT THE ENTIRE
COUNTRY IS ON THE SAME PAGE
HERE.
HERE. >> THE PRESIDENT SAID NO ONE SAW
THIS COMING, BUT EXPERTS HAVE
BEEN WARNING OF THIS FOR YEARS.
THERE WAS AN BLA CRISIS A FEW
YEARS AGO THAT WAS THREATENING
TO SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD,
INCLUDING TO HERE.
THERE HAVE BEEN OTHER EPIDEMICS
OUT THERE, THIS HAS HAPPENED
BEFORE.
BEFORE. WHY IS THERE NOT A GOVERNMENT
RESPONSE IN PLACE.
WHY HAS THERE NOT BEEN A PLAN TO
COMBAT THIS?
COMBAT THIS? >> SO THERE’S GOING TO HAVE TO
BE A SERIOUS POSTMORTEM ON WHAT
HAPPENED AND WHAT WENT WRONG
IT’S TOO EARLY TO DO THAT RIGHT
NOW, BUT WHAT CAN BE DONE RIGHT
NOW IS FOR THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT TO ISSUE A VERY
CONSISTENT POLICY THAT APPLIES
ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.
THESE KINDS OF THINGS WORK,
THESE WON’T WORK.
WE CAN’T JUST HAVE SALESPEOPLE
EXPERIMENTING LOCALLY WITH
SOMEONE DOING A CONTAINMENT
ZONE, SOMEONE SHUTTING SCHOOLS,
OTHERS NOT SHUTTING SCHOOLS.
THIS IS TOO CHAOTIC AND I’M
CONCERNED ABOUT THAT.
>> SO THE DESCRIPTION OF WHAT’S
HAPPENING IN ITALY, HOSPITALS IS
DIRE, VERY SCARY.
DOCTORS ARE GETTING SICK,
THEY’RE RUNNING OUT OF HEALTH
WORKERS.
WORKERS. EVERYTHING THAT HAS MOVED TO
TREATING THOSE AFFECTED.
THERE IS CONCERN THAT PEOPLE
COME IN WITH A TRAUMA OR WITH A
DIFFERENT ISSUE --
>> WITH CHEST PAIN --
>> IT’S NOT CORONAVIRUS RELATED,
THAT THEY ARE NOT GETTING
TREATED.
TREATED. THERE’S WORRY THAT THEY’RE JUST
WATCHING PEOPLE DIE AND ALL THEY
CAN GIVE THEM IS OXYGEN.
PCH I SENT THESE REPORTS TO
SOMEONE I KNOW THAT WORKS IN A
HOSPITAL IN THIS COUNTRY AND I
SAID, IS THIS WHAT’S GOING TO
HAPPEN HERE, ARE YOU CONCERNED
ABOUT THIS OR IS THIS TOO
ALARMEST AND THE PERSON TOLD ME,
NO, IT’S NOT HAPPENING HERE YET,
BUT FROM THE E-MAILS THAT THE
ADMINISTRATION OF HIS HOSPITAL
ARE PUTTING OUT, THEY ARE
PREPARED FOR IT AND THEY’RE
WORRIED THAT THAT IS GOING TO
START HAPPENING HERE.
THEY SHOULD BE.
WE’RE ABOUT 10 TO 15 DAYS BEHIND
ITALY IN TERMS OF WHAT WILL
HAPPEN IN THE HEALTH CARE
SYSTEM.
SYSTEM. SO ACTIONS NEED TO BE TAKEN
DOWN.
DOWN. AND WE HAVE TO FIND THAT MIDDLE
GROUND BETWEEN COMPLACENCY AND
PANICKING PEOPLE.
PANICKING PEOPLE. WHAT IS THE MIDDLE GROUND.
>> IT’S BEING PROPERLY PREPARED
AND GETTING TESTED.
WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO DO
TESTS LOCALLY.
TESTS LOCALLY. WE HAVE THE PERMISSION, WE HAVE
THE EQUIPMENT --
>> WHY DON’T WE HAVE DRIVE
THROUGH TESTING LIKE THEY HAVE
IN GERMANY?
IN GERMANY? >> THAT’S A RHETORICAL QUESTION.
WHY ARE PEOPLE WALKING INTO
HOSPITALS AND INTERACTING A
NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE
BEFORE THEY’RE TESTED.
IN GERMANY, YOU DRIVE UP TO A
WINDOW, GET TESTED BY SOMEONE IN
A HAZMAT SUIT AND YOU’RE ON YOUR
WAY.
WAY. >> IN SOUTH KOREA, THAT’S
HAPPENING AS WELL.
OR HAVE MOBILE UNITS TO GO TO
PLACES -- BUT WE DON’T WANT
PEOPLE JUST OVERWHELMING THE
EMERGENCY ROOMS, BECAUSE IT’S
GOING TO PARALYZE THE WHOLE
HEALTH CARE SYSTEM.
>> WHY IS OUR SYSTEM NOT AS
TOGETHER AS A SYSTEM LIKE
GERMANY OR SOUTH KOREA?
>> THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR
HOSPITALS ARE PRIVATE VOLUNTARY
HOSPITALS THAT BASICALLY DO
THEIR OWN THING.
AND THEY’LL NEED TO HAVE A MUCH
MORE DIRECT UNDERSTANDING --
>> BECAUSE HEALTH CARE IS NOT
NATIONALIZED IN THIS COUNTRY.
>> HEALTH CARE IS NOT
NATIONALIZED, AND I’M NOT EVEN
SAYING IT SHOULD BE, ALTHOUGH I
THINK IT SHOULD BE, BUT I DO
THINK WHAT WE NEED IS REAL
DIRECTION THAT’S VERY SPECIFIC
AND CONCRETE THAT EVERYBODY HAS
GOT TO VOL.
AND IF WE HAVE TO DECLARE A
NATIONAL EMERGENCY AT A HIGHER
LEVEL TO DO THAT, I THINK IT’S,
YOU KNOW, IT’S TIME.
>> DR. ERWIN REDLENER, PLEASE
COME BACK AND TALK TO US MORE
ABOUT THIS.
ABOUT THIS. IT’S VERY DIFFICULT TO FIGURE
OUT HOW ALARMED YOU SHOULD BE,
HOW PREPARED YOU SHOULD BE,
BECAUSE WE ARE GETTING MIXED