Yesterday’s Zoom all-campus forum with UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, touched upon two ongoing public health emergencies: mass shootings and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Charlotte Evans, chief of police and associate vice chancellor for the UNO/UNMC Department of Public Safety, said as she listened to Dr. Gold and Mark Rupp, MD, chief of the UNMC Division of Infectious Diseases, discuss the pandemic, it struck her that many of the same themes apply to other areas of public safety.
"It’s no longer ‘if,’ " Evans said. "But, it’s ‘when.’ "
Dr. Gold and Evans both recommended this video, on what to do in case of a mass shooting.
Read the message sent to the campus community Thursday morning.
Just as in the case of COVID-19, Evans said, the med center’s public safety team stands ready. UNMC boasts a professional dispatch organization, and teams dedicated to monitoring security cameras and entryway access.
Public access has been curtailed throughout the pandemic — but each of us must do our part to keep badge-only entryways secure, she said.
Be aware of your surroundings. "We ask people to report gut feelings," Evans said. The public safety emergency number is 402-559-5555; non-emergencies, 402-559-1111. That also includes if you’ve let someone without a badge through the door and realize you shouldn’t have.
The public safety team works with community partners, staying up to date on the latest training.
And the public safety team stands ready to do walkthrough assessments of our workplaces, in order to help individual departments run through emergency-safety plans.
Employees also can join the UNMC emergency alert network.
In addition to defibrillators throughout campus, we should become familiar with the locations of stop-the-bleed kits, Dr. Gold said.
Members of the medical center community can view the forum.
These are "tough conversations," Evans said, but they ensure our campus will be prepared.
Likewise, we cannot yet let up our guard when it comes to COVID-19, Drs. Gold and Rupp said.
"The pandemic continues to evolve," Dr. Rupp said. "It’s not going to go away. We’re all coming to the realization that we’re going to have to learn to negotiate with this virus, to dance with it."
Dr. Rupp, who also is Nebraska Medicine's medical director of epidemiology and infection control, said we are probably at "tenfold" more cases circulating in our community than at this time last summer – and even that is likely an underestimation. Between lack of testing, and testing done at home and then not recorded by health departments, a significant number of cases fly under the radar.
Hospitalizations are rising in Nebraska, and "the number of individuals being boosted and vaccinated in Nebraska has been flat for several months," Dr. Rupp said. These metrics are among the basis for the med center’s policies and procedures, which may seem more stringent than in other segments of our community.
But, Dr. Rupp said, that is because "if people take the appropriate precautions and are careful, we can go about our business." For example, recent commencement and convocation ceremonies did not turn into superspreader events.
And getting COVID comes with "long COVID" more often than many realize.
Dr. Rupp said that up to 33% of those stricken with the disease could "have lingering symptoms for at least several months." That goes beyond inconvenience and into something which significantly impacts one’s life.
"Try not to contract this illness because it has longer manifestations than are appreciated," Dr. Rupp said.
Dr. Gold closed with a message of appreciation for the med center community.
"I want to let you know how much we care about wellness and resiliency in every possible sense. And how much confidence and faith I have in the future of this community," the chancellor said.
Also at the forum:
- Anne Barnes, UNMC’s new vice chancellor for business, finance and business development, appeared on the call and greeted the med center community.
- Dr. Gold noted summer is a time when many of us take time off and doing so "is a critical part of our approach to campus wellness."
- Our experts are monitoring influenza in the southern hemisphere, which may give insight to the severity of our own fall flu season.
- Dr. Rupp’s message on monkeypox is one of reassurance. But it is "something to keep an eye on." A smallpox vaccine is applicable to this disease as well.
- Second COVID-19 boosters (fourth shot) are free and available, and recommended for those who meet criteria per the CDC. "If you haven’t had your third shot, please get it," Dr. Rupp said.
- We likely will continue to get booster doses going forward, Dr. Rupp said.
- You are unlikely to become re-infected with COVID-19 within a couple of months of having it — but, beyond that, do not rely on such immunity. Get your vaccine, Drs. Gold and Rupp said.
- If positive with COVID-19, please isolate for five days until you are feeling better, then wear a mask around others for five days more, a total of 10 days.
- If you forget your door-access ID badge, go home and get it, Chief Evans said. Or please stop by the badge office for another.