Virus Protection Tips from the ER Doctor
I do not rely on vaccines to keep me healthy.
I have a set of what some may consider extreme safety measures to protect myself from all viruses. These methods have kept me healthy in the thirty years of working near highly contagious, critically ill patients.
Virus Protection
- Try to keep 3 feet from others.
- Keep gatherings of people less than 10.
- Stop breathing, hold the breath if someone coughs or sneezes next to you, and walk 10 feet away.
- If someone coughs or sneezes on you, realize the virus can be on the surface of clothes. Do not touch. Disinfect or go into sunlight.
- Do not touch things with the palms of the hands. If you do, wash my hands and make sure not to touch the face. Realize if someone just touched a surface with the virus you may pick up from there.
- Try be in the sunlight – heat kills the virus.
I have worked in the ER for 30 years and have only once gotten gravely ill from a virus, early in my career before I put these aforementioned measures in place. It was an toddler with high fever. I was examining the throat and the toddler sneezed in my face. I developed fevers and was not able to work. This was the only time.
It is amazing when I began in emergency medicine there was not universal precautions. We did not wear gloves. I would use bare hands to exam bloody wounds. It was not standard protocol to wear a mask to intubate.
Now I wear mask and gloves seeing alls the patient in the ER. Some might say it’s a bit less personal, but I remain in good health and face people all day with viruses.
Covid-19 is no different — just a new strain. We do not know how it reacts when it mutates. What we are learning is it now seems is a very mild illness for the healthy individuals, and that is why it is spreading.
Though mild for the healthy, we do not want to spread it to those who are already ill – with weakened immune systems.
Self isolate and protect your loved ones. The the people at risk are at risk for all viruses and we should be doing this during the entire flu season. We must not rely so heavily on vaccines. If our global leaders were more supportive of self isolation, we might not have the hundreds of thousands of deaths from the flu. The deaths that occur from viruses are the respiratory infections not responding to antibiotics because it is viral. Those who develop this Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) are critically ill, and the only treatment is supportive care using a ventilator or supplemental oxygen.
Please, for the good of everyone, protect yourself and your loved ones by isolating yourself if you have any virus.
To your health,
Anita Wang, MD, FACEP
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