The Janitors' Closet

Blocking critical equipment

Reuters reports that the US government will block exports of critical medical equipment, including respirators, N95 masks, and gloves.  This seems to me to be one of the most counter-productive initiatives floated in the current crisis.

We import much more such equipment than we export.  Much of it from China.  

China's move will likely be to prevent export of such items, and perhaps other stuff as well, to the US.  She can direct those exports to countries most in need, including those that the US has just stiffed.  Perhaps even donate the stuff, with appropriate photo ops.

So the US has less gear, the desperate world more, China scores big as a responsible, compassionate nation, and the US is the bad guy.

Further, the bulk of generic drugs used in the US come from India.  Much of the precursor chemicals come to India from China.  What could possibly go wrong?

Just in passing, I'm still waiting delivery of my Clorox360 electrostatic disinfectant sprayer, bought weeks ago to better disinfect many of the healthcare and other critical facilities we provide janitorial service to.  The rumor is that FEMA (or somebody) may well be redirecting production.  A lot of folks downstream can get hurt when we ignore rules and agreements, and govern by fiat.  Sometimes it might be necessary to do so, but it's best to think long and hard first.

Do surgical masks work?

Now that most everybody, it seems, is under orders to wear masks when in public, here's a bit more bad news.

We've know for a bit, and a quick consideration of most any virus will confirm, that a standard surgical mask, let alone a homemade cotton mask or a bandana (with a 10-gallon hat, that's a fashion statement here in Arizona) will not stop the new virus itself; the virus is much too small.  The idea behind the aforementioned masks is that they will stop virus-containing droplets coughed out by in infected party; cough and sneeze droplets are large enough to be stopped.  So the uninfected party is protected, not by his own mask (it's irrelevant) but by the mask on the infected party's schnoz. 

An article released by the Annals of Internal Medicine shows very little stopping power, as measured by Petri dishes placed 20 cm from the sufferer.  It does show much contamination on the mask itself, curiously enough more so on the outside than the inside.

My commercial janitorial crews are pretty religious about masks, and also gloves, sanitizer and handwashing.  I shall reemphasize hand washing, especially after removing the mask. 

Keeping doctors away from hard hit areas

One sees stories of areas hard hit by CCOVID-19 begging for more doctors, nurses and other health care professionals.  You'd think they'd welcome folks from other states.  But only a bit over a dozen states have (temporarily) relaxed state licensing laws that allow only those licensed in a given state to work in that state.  You'd think it would be, roughly, 50 states instead.

All states license a fair number of occupations, from doctors and lawyers to barbers (in Arizona, its close to 80 occupations).  The requirements often seem onerous, and the bureaucratic delays unreasonable.  A bit ago, I noticed articles in the local media, within a week of one another, of an acute general practice physician shortage in Arizona, and a multi-month backlog in processing applications for "foreign" - that is, out of state - physicians to be considered by the state board.  To acquire an Arizona barber's license, you need some 1200 hours in the classroom, and around $20,000.00.  Almost looks like an incumbent protection device.

Arizona has been inching into less licensing.  We require licensing agencies to justify their regs, if asked.  We ease restrictions for military spouses being transferred in to the state, who want to keep working in their chosen field.  And we're the first state (of several) to accept out of state licenses.

If the current crisis pushes us all in a better direction, there may be a bit of a silver lining around a very dark cloud.

Listen to the folks on the job

Our janitorial and floor crews have generally been quite careful about using protective equipment (gloves, goggles, sanitizer) but, as one might imagine, they're currently even a bit more focused.  Several of our crews, independently, started misting Virex II 256, our Johnson/Diversey disinfectant, on their vehicle touchpoints (door frame and handle, steering wheel, gear shift, seat belt buckle and so on) on exiting client facilities and at end of the shift.  (They remove and dispose of their gloves after exiting each facility, so the vehicle shouldn't be a problem, but you never know.)  A couple of our folks mentioned it to my ops manager, who quickly passed the advice around to everyone else.

I might have thought of it eventually, but I hadn't thought of it then.

Reminds me, just a bit, of the lesson learned by the loss of our carrier Lexington in the Coral Sea, in May of 1942.  She took several hits but could have survived, but for fires spreading from the aviation gas pipes running from the bunkers up to various points on the hangar deck.  Sailors transferred to other carriers brought that knowledge along, and directly our carriers would evacuate the aviation gas lines, and fill them with carbon dioxide, if an attack seemed imminent. Our officers, all the way to the top, were willing to learn from the fellows "in the trenches".

The Japanese never adopted the technique, and lost carriers as a result.  Their navy was quite hierarchical; an officer, let alone a captain, would rarely listen to an enlisted man; and the enlisted men were much too subservient to even attempt.

Listen to the folks on the job.