Again as the virus urges across the nation. It is not enough to praise you, we have to protect you and pay you. You deserve leadership that listens to you and that works as hard for you as you do for your community. You are in your own communities. You know the people that you are caring for. I am here today to hear what is on your mind, what you think you need the most, what i can do as president , for you, your colleagues and what you have had. I would like to talk to each of you and then maybe ask you some questions and get a little more detail if possible. Is that ok . Doc, how are we doing this . From ourtime to hear guest. To mr. Tonyit over murray. Please, tony, introduce yourself and share with us your experience. Tony hello. First of all, thank you for the opportunity, and dr. Smith, this great panel of people. Its such an opportunity to talk about our perspective of things. So thank you. So im a firefighter and paramedic. Ive been in Public Safety for 26 years. Today im speaking to you as the iff president for hamilton county, indiana, just north of indianapolis. Im actually quarantining myself because of a potential close contact exposure. So living this, just like so many other people are. As firefighters and emts and paramedics, we see america we recognize and see that people are struggling. Weve seen this firsthand during this pandemic. We see what people are going through. In 26 thand during this in 26 years, i have not had the experience that ive experienced through this pandemic in terms of how our response has changed and through such a prolonged period of time. Talk about just a concern, a couple of things. One is, personal protective equipment. This is a concern for the following reasons. You know, one, availability and access from our perspectives. Firefighters, emts, paramedics, we are most folks first access to the Public Health care system. Were treating wherever a person is whatever they need. Not just because theyre sick or with the virus or have symptoms, but whatever the emergency is, we take people in our ambulances and treat them and get to the hospital system. Ppe is so important for our patients to protech our patients first and foremost. If were able to protect our patients, we need to be able to protect ourselves by having access to this equipment. Its so important. Its vital. This stuff is intended for a single use. Its disposable, in essence. And we are wearing personal protective equipment, sometimes over and over again because we dont have quite the access that we need, you know, in its not intended for reuse. That puts people at risk and the community at risk. When it comes to ppe stockpiles, you know, those are really have been in this pandemic issued to hospitals and care facilities first. Which leaves Fire Departments and ems agencies left to the open market to go seek out and find what ppe is available. Obviously, theres a cost to that, as well. Were sort of at a disadvantage from a Fire Departments perspective when we operate at this way. Health care systems, they get their ppe by the semi load. Fire departments are getting ppe through cases or maybe a skid or something. So ppe is, you know, first and foremost a concern. As we progress through this pandemic, you know, and were seeing numbers surge, were going through more and more ppe. You know, part of the issue here too is that our work space is really defined by the emergency. We cant predict where were going to be working. This virus, we often times dont know who is positive and who is not. So we treat every call by protecting ourselves and our patients. Whether thats mrs. Smith who fell down but cant get Family Access and has nobody else to call at the middle of the night. We have to wear that personal protective equipment for mrs. Smith and our members. And when you talk about places that we work, you know, its crawling into the inside of a car thats flipped over on the side of a highway to take care of a mother and her child. That is close contact. You cant get any more close contact than that. Those are the environments were working in, which require us to be prepared and have access. Front line health workers, including firefighters, are seeing increased exposures, increased ems workers and firefighters having to go through quarantine. Were seeing infection rates of our responders increase. This is becoming taxing. We know that. We know that there is hopeful vaccine opportunities. Because of this, we live cumulatively in the firehouse. Were doing what we can to space and to separate and to alter our meal eating schedules. But every time we get in those rigs to answer the bell, were less than six feet away from each other. The other concern i would say is as we go into vaccination, that our workers, our Frontline Health care workers and fire, ems, have priority access to a vaccine. I think thats really important and has to be identified as a resource so that we can continue to deliver these Vital Services when people need us the most. Well, thank you. I appreciate it, mr. President. Firefighters, incredible. All right. Ill ask questions after everybody speaks. By the way, if you see me in your camera looking up, its because youre on a big screen to me and they tell me to look in the camera. Im not not paying attention. Theres a great big board in front of me, and tony is to my left and mary, youre my bottom left and so on. So i just want you that im not not paying attention. Thank you for that. Thank you so much, tony. So now ill turn it over to you, to britney williams. Please introduce yourself and sh share your insights. My name is britney williams, and im a Third Generation home care worker and a proud member of seiu. I understand more than ever the importance of the work that caregivers like myself do. Its one of the fields that was literally birthed out of slavery and bondage. Seeing you put health care [ inaudible ] workers as a top priority, its life changing for Health Care Workers. Thank you. Caregivers, were the maintainers of life. You have First Responders, once they take care of those people, it is us the home care workers that maintain that care. We have to go in and out, into the elements, going to the pharmacies, the Grocery Stores to make sure that those people we care for, because theyre more than clients, they become family. Make sure that they continue [ inaudible ] before covid, even before we fought and won ppe in washington state, caregivers were out there doing what had to be done, and we still are. We have to live with the idea in the back of our head that because of the job that we do going in and out of our clients homes, taking them to their appointments, we can become guilty [ inaudible ] like i said, our job means so much to the. As a Third Generation, its in my blood im a woman of color and the mother of two beautiful children. [ audio difficulties ] has a heart for them and understands the importance of rebuilding and bringing back this nations grandeur [ inaudible ] i understand that you have to bring balance with that. In the midst of working with that, in the midst of rebuilding this economy, please remember to push forward with a plan that you have put together, making sure that caregivers workforce is central when it comes to rebuild thing nation. And most importantly, making sure that everyone thats in home care and all workers are able to have good, strong unions. Well, thank you, britney. I promise you, you have my word, i will do that. Ive already begun to Contact People how we can put Something Like that together with my plan, which you know well. Seiu has been strong on your behalf and behalf of all home care workers. Thank you, and i have a couple questions when we get finished, okay . Thank you. Thank you, britney. So ill turn it over now to you, to mary turner. Intro tduce yourself and share with us what you are seeing in the icu. Im mary turner, president of the minnesota nurses association, which is an affiliate of National Nurses united, the Largest Union and professional association of registered nurses in the country. I proudly work as an icu nurse on the night shift. In a covid unit in minnesota, and i have been since the end of february. Thank you for inviting us to take part in this roundtable. National nurses united has been proud to work closely with you, and we so deeply appreciate your commitment to addressing this pandemic and fighting to protect nurses and other frontline workers. Right now, covid19 infections are surging across minnesota and the country. Our hospitals i tell you are overflowing with Covid Patients. And we arent prepared. We dont have the necessary resources to keep patients and our workers safe. Nurses im telling you are feeling extremely anxious right now. We know the right way to battle this virus. But our employers and our government are not supporting us. Were trying to care for patients despite limited supplies, limited staff, and a rapid decline in the hospital beds, and all the while we know that we could become infected and our families could be infected at any time. The physical impacts of this virus have been devastating. I myself have held the hand of dying patients who are crying out for their families that they cant see. Ive taken care of coworkers as they fight for their lives on a ventilator. And knowing that they got sick because of the hospital. Throughout this pandemic, weve had the reuse n95s so many times. Sometimes the masks literally falls off our faces. In our hospital, were still reusing n95s two times. But i know hospitals that are using them eight to ten times a shift. Eight to ten shifts. We cant stay safe with these standards. Nurses are getting sick. A month ago in my hospital, nine icu nurses were out with covid. Just recently, we had 12 emergency room nurses out with covid. We need to protect our frontline workers so that we can take care of you. Remember, there is no second line of defense. Its us. As president of the minnesota nurses association, i have been on multiple picket lines with Frontline Health care workers who are protesting to get the ppe that they need and other protections. There is something seriously wrong when nurses have to take to the streets to beg for protection in the middle of a pandemic. What were experiencing in minnesota is what nurses are experiencing all over the country. Were not being given the protection that we need. Which need to have optimal ppe for all staff. We need testing of our workers and patients and Contact Tracing and notification of exposure for Health Care Workers. Do you know i have not been tested yet, and i have been on the frontlines in the icu since february. Youre kidding me. No. We also need safe staffing of nurses in the hospital units, and patients who are or may be covid positive patients must be isolated from the general patient population. Workers who have been exposed need to be allowed to quarantine at home without fear of losing income and their jobs. This is a novel virus, but the principles of infection are not. Our hospitals have not been providing these basic protections. This is why it is so critical for the federal, state, and local governments to step in to ensure that nurses are protected. As a result, the pandemic is surging and frontline workers are getting sick and dying. Nurses across the country were so relieved and grateful. When you committed to taking action that we need to have to get this pandemic under control. Thank you for committing to invoke the defense production act. To increase manufacturing and distribution of ppe, which we need to establish. And also for establishing an osha Emergency Temporary Standard on infectious diseases, which could enforce protections we need from our employers. Thank you for that. We are also grateful that you have committed to a robust and comprehensive pandemic stimulus plan to make sure that our patients have the economic support they need. You know, we nurses, we know that we are facing immense death and suffering in the coming weeks. And we will be there. But we need to act now. We need to act quickly to protect our Health Care Workers so that we can save as many lives as possible. Thank you. Mary im sorry im so emotional. No. You got me emotional. Look, you know, anyone who spent significant time in icu like i did for months, umm, you know what i used to do . After i got out, i observed this is not covid, but i observed the incredible mental strain on nurses in icu units. You know what i did for a long time after i got out, i drove back and forth to wilmington, delaware, i commuted every day. But as Vice President what i would do is i would also i would go out back out to walter reed on the night shift and bring dinner and food for the nurses and hang out with them. The night shift, cool. Thats cool. Well, you know, one of the things that one of my neuro surgeons said to me was, you only see people walk out of the icu, theyre either walking out and they dont ever want to come back because they dont want the memory or theyre carried out and they cant come back. And the psychic remuneration for you guys is missing. You dont see the people you save come back. Im sorry for me to get personal about it. But there is a lot that i want to talk with you about but we used to say in the senate, excuse the point of personal privilege here, but thank you, thank you, thank you for what you do and all your colleagues, male and female, who are manning those rooms. And now i know weve got patricia next. And she also is shes a nurse with students. Im anxious to hear what you have to say, patricia. May i call you patricia or pat . Pat is okay. You can call me joe. Thats absolutely fine. Well, first of all, thank you for having me. And also thank you to my colleagues here on this call for sharing. Just know that were all with you and our thoughts are with you. Were all in this together. On a positive note, we now have good leadership. And thats going to change things around. That is going to make the difference. Ive been a school nurse for my whole life. I work in the inner city cleveland schools where theres 100 poverty and 85 of the children are minority. And im also a Proud Union Member of the American Federation of teachers where i sit on the executive board as the only nurse. And i like to be at the table as a union member, because i like to have a voice. I think we do the work and should be able to share our voice at the table, and im so appreciative of that. I think so much of the problem is theres been no federal plan, and its really hurt us. Our Health Department here in cleveland really is bare bones. Its still bare bones. Our contact tracers are working 24 7. But theyre about four days out. Theyre about four days from contacting a positive case. So in those four days that e positive covid person has been in the community, maybe with other family members, and i think that has really contributed to the increase in cases. Also when this first happened, the School Nurses got together and our schools closed on march 20th and we all got together and we got all of our ppe out of schools and we drove it to the hospitals, because they needed it. It was the right thing to do. So now if, as we talk about reopening, and going back, we dont have any ppe. So we our school buildings, our infrastructure will be in bad shape. We have no ventilation in some of those schools. You have to remember, whatever is going on in the community is going to be going on in the schools. So as long as the numbers are celebrated in the community, we just cant reopen. And we want to reopen. We are remote. The School Nurses have set up virtual clinics for all our kids and schools. They have our number. They can go on and talk to us virtually any time. And the one thing that concerns me in talking to all these children is their Mental Health condition. Absolutely. They are really in bad shape. They are traumatized and i fear for them now, and i fear that when we go back, we wont have the boots on the ground to give them the support. If i could do anything, i would mandate a school nurse in every school, every day. And im sure dr. Biden would support me on this. She does. You know, teachers need support. A teacher cant be a psychologist, a counselor, johnny has a nose bleed and a meltdown, and they are trying to teach. They love to teach. Its what they do. But they cant do it all. And, you know, so many times in the past, theyve been demonized and their evaluations have been based on how students are doing. And its not fair. Its theyve had value added put into their evaluations many times, and its just not been fair to them. They do want to teach. They do they are good at what they do. I think the science has not carried the conversation. When we talk about people Wearing Masks in public, i really feel like we need to get the science out there more. If we get the styncience out th, i think the patterns will follow. I think people will be more willing to wear a mask and follow through. But i think the science has been ignored, and i think thats why i think thats what has caused all the disruption. Oh, lets see. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the clinton global initiative. We went and took care of children in the last hurricane, and i just wanted to say thank you for that, as well. Because were about taking care of children everywhere. Im also worried about the children at the borders right now. A aft went there. We tried to get in and see children and they threw us out. I thought we were going to get arrested, and we never did really get to see how the children were doing. But, listen, those are going to be our children. Theyre going to come into our country. We need to make sure theyre healthy, make sure theyre immunized. And i would like the opportunity to, as a school nurse, to be able to somehow be a part of that. I think thats about all i had on my list. I hope School Nurses are going to stand ready to help in this with this vaccine distribution. School nursing is has a Public Health foundation. Weve been through sma