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From YouTube: Ames Responds to COVID-19 | Episode 15
Description
On this episode of Ames Responds to Covid-19, we talk with Steve Sullivan, with Mary Greeley Medical Center, about the gradual increase in Covid-19 cases and significant increase in medical patients (non Covid-19) and how the hospital is dealing with the influx of patients. Also, we speak with Andrea Cardenas, with the City of Ames, about her role in contact tracing.
A
Hi
welcome
to
aim's
response
to
covert
19
a
question
and
answer
program
where
ames
area
organizations
respond
to
coded
19
questions,
the
public
information
officer
with
the
city
of
ames.
My
guests
today
are
steve
sullivan
director
of
marketing
and
community
relations
with
mary
greeley
medical
center
and
andrea
cardenas,
the
health
team
coordinator
with
the
city
of
ames.
A
I
don't
have
specific
questions
for
today's
show,
but
instead
I
wanted
to
touch
on
some
topics
of
concern
that
I
hear
out
in
the
community.
This
is
the
time
of
year,
late
july
and
early
august,
when
we
see
a
lot
of
iowa
state
university
students
returning
to
ames.
One
of
the
biggest
concerns
surrounding
the
kobit
19
pandemic
is
overwhelming
our
health
care
systems.
We
have
seen
the
number
of
positive
tests
and
ames
go
up
and
down,
but
generally
we're
seeing
a
bit
of
an
increase.
My
first
question
goes
to
steve.
B
We've
seen
a
gradual
increase
in
cover
19
patients
over
the
past
couple
of
weeks
for
a
while
there
we
were
averaging,
maybe
five
or
six
a
day
we've
had
as
high
as
15
in
the
past
week,
so
we've
been
kind
of
averaging
around
12
or
13,
probably
over
the
past
week
or
two,
so
we
have
seen
a
gradual
increase
concurrently.
However,
we've
seen
a
significant
increase
in
medical
patients,
non-covet
19
patients,
so
the
hospital
is
very
busy,
but
it's
not
because
of
cobit
19,
it's
because
of
all
of
the
other
patients.
B
So
it's
also
important
to
keep
in
mind
that
we've
been
preparing
for
surges
of
patients.
Since
the
beginning
of
all
of
this
back
in
january,
we
started
putting
plans
in
place,
so
our
icu
staff
is
very
versed
in
experience
in
treating
these.
Patients
are
nurses
and
others
on
the
inpatient
floors
that
have
been
designated
as
covered.
19
patient
areas
also
are
very
experienced.
A
B
No,
we
draw
from
our
primary
market
area
is
a
six
county
market.
Boone
green
hamilton,
harden
marshall
and
story,
so
that's
our
primary
but
we're
drawing
from
throughout
the
central
iowa
region.
You
kind
of
imagine,
story,
county
and
then
a
horseshoe
of
the
region,
around
story
county
is
where
we're
drawing
from
and
so
yeah.
We
are
drawing
marshall
county,
for
example,
as
a
as
a
pretty
significant
number
of
code
19
cases-
and
we
have
seen
several
patients
from
marshall
county.
B
Of
course,
I
think,
like
everyone
in
the
community,
where
we
have
concerns
and
how
we
need
to
be
watching
that
and
monitoring
that
situation
again,
that
age
group
doesn't
necessarily
translate
into
hospitalization
into
impatient
situations.
It
could,
but
it
does.
I
don't
think
we
expect
this
influx
of
college-age
students
being
impatient
in
the
hospital.
B
A
A
Thank
you
steve
for
that
kind
of
big
picture
feedback.
Now,
let's
a
little
bit
smaller
andrea,
you
are
the
health
promotion
coordinator
with
the
city
of
ames,
and
your
focus
is
on
the
city
of
ames
workforce
specifically,
and
keeping
employees
healthy.
One
of
the
recent
responsibilities
you've
been
given
is
being
a
contact
tracer.
We
hear
about
that
a
lot.
Can
you
explain
us?
What
is
contact
tracing
sure.
C
Contact
tracing
is
where
you
identify
cases
of
the
illness,
so
in
this
case
copin
19
and
you
isolate
those
cases
so
that
they're
no
longer
out
in
the
community
and
spreading
illness
to
others.
You
identify
any
potential,
close
contacts
that
could
have
been
exposed
to
that
person
who
is
ill,
so
close
contact
is
typically
defined
as
15
or
more
minutes
within
six
feet
of
the
person
that
tested
positive
and
it
starts
48
hours
before
symptoms
developed.
C
So
you
know
our
contact
tracing
program,
kind
of
started
out
of
the
requirement
from
the
iowa
department
of
public
health
to
track
all
employees
that
are
out
with
symptoms
of
coping
19,
so
that
is
a
responsibility
of
mine.
So
if
someone
calls
in
sick
a
supervisor
asks
a
few
questions
to
determine.
If
someone
has
symptoms
of
cova
19
and
then
they
contact
me-
and
I
interview
that
employee.
So
you
know
normally
contact
tracing
starts
after
a
positive
test.
C
In
our
case,
it
starts
with
symptoms
or
possibly
even
an
exposure,
and
I
work
with
that
person
throughout
the
entire
process.
So
I
might
be
helping
them
find
a
place
to
get
tested
following
up
with
them
to
see
what
their
symptoms
are
identifying,
who
they
could
have
been
in
close
contact
with
during
the
time
when
they
could
have
been
contagious.
C
So
we're
actually
able
to
get
better
get
ahead
of
the
illness
and
quickly
isolate
people
that
could
be
could
have
been
exposed,
but
are
potentially
continuous
to
others
and
make
sure
that
they
stay
at
home
and
they're
not
out
in
the
community
and
they're
limiting
their
interactions.
If
they
do
have
to
come
to
work.
A
C
I
have
a
background
in
biology
and
a
degree
in
public
health,
and
so
I
have
some
basic
understanding
of
epidemiology
and
and
how
illness
is
spread.
In
addition
to
that,
cdc
has
a
protocol
for
contact
tracing
available,
so
we
took
their
protocol
and
adapted
it.
Johns
hopkins
university
also
has
an
online
program
to
learn
how
to
be
a
contact
tracer.
So,
in
addition
to
all
those
other
items,
I
also
did
that
online
training
to
make
sure
that
I
was
following
all
the
processes.
A
A
Okay,
great
very
helpful
information,
we're
hearing
a
lot
of
kind
of
chatter
on
the
streets
about
these.
This
vocabulary,
contact
tracing,
increasing
testing,
positive
cases
and,
of
course,
throw
in
there
the
start
of
the
fall
semester
and
there's
just
a
lot
of
questions
out
there.
So
thank
you
to
my
guests,
steve
sullivan
and
andrea
cardenas.
A
Finder.
Are
you
a
cyclone
who
cares
the
city
of
ames,
along
with
iowa
state
university
and
other
localizations,
including
mary
greeley?
Medical
center,
is
partnering
for
a
community-wide
public
health
initiative
called
cyclone's
care.
The
entire
campaign
focuses
around
four
pillars
of
healthy
decision
making,
including
wear
a
mask
stay
home
if
you're
sick,
frequent
hand
washing
and
physically
distance
from
one
another.
You
want
to
learn
more
about
cyclones
care.
A
You
can
find
more
information
on
the
iowa
state
university
website
or
on
our
city
of
ames
website
at
city
of
ames
dot,
org,
slash,
covid19,
ames
response
is
an
opportunity
for
ames
residents
to
ask
their
covid
related
pandemic
questions.
If
you
have
a
question
for
us,
send
us
an
email
at
cobit19,
cityofames.org.