Will Stone

Tear-Gassing Protesters During An Infectious Outbreak ‘A Recipe For Disaster’

KFF Health News Original

Health researchers are among the voices calling for police to stop using tear gas and pepper spray on protesters, because these chemical irritants can damage the body in ways that can spread the coronavirus and increase the severity of COVID-19. One example: Tear gas and pepper spray can sow confusion and panic in a crowd, causing people to rip off their masks and touch their faces, leading to more contamination.

Eerie Emptiness Of ERs Worries Doctors As Heart Attack And Stroke Patients Delay Care

KFF Health News Original

Emergency department volumes are down 40 to 50 percent across the country. Doctors worry a new wave of cardiac patients is headed their way — people who have delayed care and will be sicker and more injured when they finally seek care.

Palliative Care Helped Family Face ‘The Awful, Awful Truth’

KFF Health News Original

Elizabeth and Robert Mar would have celebrated 50 years of marriage in August. Instead, they died within a day of each other. Their two very different deaths illustrate how palliative care is changing to help patients and families cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus Nurses Ask An Ebola Veteran: Is It OK To Be Afraid?

KFF Health News Original

Martha Phillips traveled to Sierra Leone during the Ebola epidemic in 2014 to serve as a nurse. Now, she’s working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, advising her colleagues on how to stay safe.

Cancer Patients Face Treatment Delays And Uncertainty As Coronavirus Cripples Hospitals

KFF Health News Original

As hospitals across the country are forced to delay or cancel certain medical procedures in response to the surge in patients with COVID-19, those hard choices are disrupting care for some people with serious illnesses.

Under Financial Strain, Community Health Centers Ramp Up Coronavirus Response

KFF Health News Original

Many of the nation’s safety-net clinics for low-income patients are having to turn their model of care upside down overnight to deal with the realities of the pandemic — a challenge both financially and logistically. Federal funding is on the way.

En Seattle, enfermeras se vuelven creativas para cuidarse y trabajar en medio de la pandemia

KFF Health News Original

Al aumentar el número de pacientes con coronavirus, escasean las máscaras y otros equipos de protección. Y las enfermeras de Washington recurren a métodos alternativos para cuidarse y cuidar a los pacientes.

Seattle Nurses Scrounge For Masks To Stay Safe On Pandemic’s Front Lines

KFF Health News Original

As illness from the new coronavirus stresses the health care system, nurses said they are being forced to make do with less and learning to be good stewards of available equipment and protective gear.

Response To Nation’s 1st Coronavirus Case Draws On Lessons From Measles Outbreak

KFF Health News Original

When the first confirmed U.S. patient was pinpointed in Washington state, health clinic workers there weren’t rattled. They were prepped by new statewide protocols on contagion containment, in the wake of last year’s measles scare.

As States With Legal Weed Embrace Vaping Bans, Black-Market Risks Linger

KFF Health News Original

Many cases of vaping-related injury seem to involve THC, health officials say. That’s led some states to take another look at the safety of the regulated cannabis market, as well as the black market.