By Donna Westfall – March 29, 2020

On  March 27, 2020, Dr. Rehwaldt and Mitch Hanna spoke before  Crescent City Mayor, Blake Inscore and Supervisor, Gerry Hemmingsen. Dr. Rehwaldt, Public Health Office, spoke about discouraging unnecessary travel and limiting hotel/motel/vacation rentals.  High demand from travelers coming from out of the area and out of state fleeing their own areas of Covid-19. Trying not to overburden our system by failing to take action.

Then Mitch Hanna, CEO of Sutter Coast Hospital,  released this hotline number for those not feeling well:  The RN Advice Triage line is 866 961 2889.  Call in and a Registered Nurse will listen to your symptoms and recommend how to manage the symptoms at home.  In other cases, they will direct you to the approrpiate level of care.  Sutter Coast Hospital has two areas to enter/exit the hospital.  Every day all staff have their temperature taken.  If anyone exhibit a temp of 100 degrees, they are sent home so as not to infect anyone else…. staff or patients.

The hospital has the ability to do in-house testing and get a quick turnaround time of an hour or two with test results.  In South Korea, their tests can take 6 hours to get results because they are testing hundreds and hundreds of people and people sometimes have to stay overnight before being released, so having the local ability to test is fantastic.

Staff are wearing masks and gloves and there are no shortages right now.   There is a tent outside of the hospital, called their triage tent just in case their ER gets overwhelmed and they need space to put Covid-19 patients there and then either direct them home with self-care administration or put them into the hospital.

Congress has approveed an Economic Stimulus Bill to provide relief to citizens, State and local, to local businesses that have been hit hard because of the virus.  Gto to this website:  preparedelnorte.com and click on the Covid 19 link.  Resources and assistance addressing concerns.  People are here to help.

Mayor Inscore related that the local Solid Waste Transfer Station off Elk Valley Road will be catering to seniors having Tuesday and Thursday mornings available from 8-9 am.

Now, what to do when you don’t have adequate food and supplies at home?  Barter is part of the answer.  My first husband had a successful barter corporation in Santa Barbara for years.  For example.  Let’s say you have chickens and they lay more eggs than you can use, but you don’t have enough fresh vegetables in the house.  Barter is the answer.  What if you’re out of fish, meat or poultry?  What do you have to trade?  Maybe it’s your carpentry services.  The beauty of a Barter Corporation is that it puts people in touch with each other because not all barters can be product for product or service for service.

Also, if you have a lawn or backyard, think about planting a garden.  If you don’t know how, contact some of the local gardening clubs, Community Gardens or schools.  Taking even an hour a day to plant seeds may make all the difference. Watch YouTube.com video’s if you’re inexperienced.  Vegetables and herbs can even be grown in pots in the house.  I learned to garden starting at the age of five.  Children are especially good helpers if given direction.

Listen, how many of us know how to make butter or oil or butcher an animal?  Not many.  Now is the time to get organized and work together.