Blog Post by Joe Babaian
Today’s blog is circling back to our discussion on April 7th as we discussed the impending 4th Wave of the pandemic. Well here it is September and not only are there multiple waves of the pandemic still ongoing, but the 4th Wave as we described is here as well (with additions to that trama we didn’t grasp).
This discussion is inspired by the so-called human-centered waves of the current pandemic. Attribution and design credits to Victor Tseng @VectorSting for the amazing work seen here.
As a reminder, we are considering the 4th Wave to be: Psychic trauma, mental illness, PTSD, economic injury, displacement (including educational), burnout, and more as this applies to everyone from patients to caregivers and clinical workers and regular folks.
Take a look at Dr. Tseng’s graphic – it’s representative and not keyed to precise times as of today. He created this to be a start to the conversation – it’s wonderful for that purpose and more. Or particular concern is the 4th Wave – what comes after. What comes after is going to define and change society in ways we are just beginning to grasp.
- 1st Wave: Immediate mortality and morbidity of COVID-19.
- 1st Wave Tail: Post-ICU and admission recovery for many patients.
- 2nd Wave: Impact of resource restrictions on non-COVID conditions – all the usual urgent things that people need immediate treatment for – acute.
- 3rd Wave: The impact of interrupted care of chronic conditions (people stayed home).
- 4th Wave: Psychic trauma, mental illness, PTSD, economic injury, displacement (including educational), burnout, and more.
- Repeat, sadly.
Today on #hcldr I’m going to use this as our insight into our current situation. The greater good is found together. We are truly stronger together!
Join us tonight, Sept 1. 2020 at 7:30pm Central for #hcldr. We’re waiting for you.
- T1 How has the 4th wave of the pandemic impacted you personally and professionally?
- T2 What can we do personally & as a society to mitigate the effects of the 4th Wave even as the Pandemic itself is still cycling (including rising deaths following peak infections)?
- T3 What have you considered about what comes next? What happens as the long-term trauma we mention here ages and longer-term impacts arrive?
- T4 Resulting from the Pandemic, what implications do you see for higher education? What about primary and secondary education?
hcldr 