Transcript:
NICOLE MORAN:
Do not just get into your car and drive directly to your doctor’s office or hospital. If you’re actually sick or if you’re not sure that you have coronavirus or if you’ve been exposed to someone who has coronavirus and you’re feeling the symptoms, call your medical provider or your doctor’s office.
[TEXT: CORONAVIRUS – WHAT IF I HAVE SYMPTOMS? WHAT DO I DO?]
SEAN FORBES:
Yesterday, I interviewed Dr. Mike Mckee about coronavirus. Today, I’m interviewing another deaf person who works in the medical profession and her name is Nicole Moran. I’m just really curious about, you know, there are many people who think they might get coronavirus so what should they do? How do they address their own situation? Should they go directly into the emergency room? Or how do they move forward with that?
MORAN:
Sure, before I share my input, I want to disclose that I do work in the medical field in a healthcare organization, but I am not a medical professional. I serve under the role of Deaf & Hard of Hearing Communications Coordinator for Wellspan Health, so I make sure that our deaf and hard of hearing patients have access to communication and information which they need, just to be clear.
But I do understand that this is a situation that keeps coming up and there are a lot of things going on so there’s a lot of confusion. I would love to clear up some of the confusion and be clear about what you should do when you are sick, whether it’s with coronavirus or if you’re just generally sick. I’ll clarify what the best steps are. If you ask me what to do if you’re actually sick and you’re unsure that you need to go to the ER, I’ll refer to the Center of Disease Center (CDC) guideline that encourages us to not just get into a car and drive directly to the doctor’s office or the hospital. If you’re actually sick or you’re not sure if you have coronavirus or you’ve been exposed to someone who has coronavirus and you’re feeling symptoms, then call your medical providers or your doctor’s offices. You can also call your local urgent care center or your local hospital as well. These are your 3 options but be sure to call them first. Let them know if you have the symptoms or let them know if you have been exposed to someone who has a confirmed diagnosis with coronavirus. Please share that information with the medical providers. They will then ask you a list of questions that will allow them to assess and determine your risk level of infection. They might determine there’s a higher possibility of you having coronavirus or they might recommend that you stay home, rest and follow your doctor’s instructions which will help you recover.
FORBES:
I’m curious – if a deaf person calls a medical professional, what kind of questions should they be prepared to ask?
MORAN:
Many healthcare systems have standard questions that they would ask whenever their patient calls them with concerns about coronavirus. Some of them have their own unique set of questions, but basically, they’ll ask you if you have traveled to an area where there’s been a coronavirus outbreak or you’ve been to countries like, obviously, Italy, China, Iran, South Korea. Also, they’ll ask if you’ve traveled within the United States like Washington state, Boston or areas like these.
FORBES:
Rochelle – New Rochelle, New York.
MORAN:
Yes, so they will ask you that question. They will also ask if you’ve already had close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with the coronavirus (COVID-19). By close contact, I mean that you’ve been interacting with them and you’ve been within 6 feet near them. You’ve already touched them, or they’ve coughed or sneezed near you. If you’ve only called or Facetimed with that person then you’re fine. You’d have to be in close contact meaning in-person contact to get infected. They might also ask you if you have a fever, a cough or difficulty breathing. They might ask you if you’re exhibiting specific symptoms, but these are the 3 top, common symptoms: high fever, coughing and difficulty breathing. Another question they might ask is if a public health official, typically from your state department of health, has called you or come to your house to notify you that you may have been exposed to coronavirus. They’d tell you to self-quarantine and stay in your home. You might not feel sick, but there’s a chance you’d become sick then you have to share that information with them as well. These are just a few of the questions that they might ask you.
I want to add one more thing regarding calling your medical provider. They will ask you questions and once you’ve finished answering their questions, they usually will tell you what to do next and it could be any of these 4 possibilities.
First, they will assess your answers then determine and notify you whether or not you’re likely at risk.
One – They would tell you to stay home and continue to monitor your symptoms. You’d be encouraged to rest and if your condition worsens then you should call them back immediately.
Two – They might tell you to stay home and wait for someone to call you back, possibly with further instructions. If that does happen, remember to stay calm and be confident that they will