In view of recent news of the latest virus I thought I’d do a part 2 of my RV’ing and your health. With all the media hype going on I wanted to point a few things out as I’ve had a tremendous amount of inquiries from RV’ers on the swine flu thing. Having been a paramedic for 33 years and working heavily in emergency medicine I do have some experience in the area of contagious diseases. More people die each year from the regular flu strains actually.
First off in my 33 years I had one on one contact with thousands of patients over the years to include HIV, full blown AIDS, Hepatitis, the flu and many others. Not once in the 33 years did I ever contract anything from a patient. Some ask how or why not? Well we used what we call “universal precautions” most of which are plain everyday good hygiene practices. Like your dentist and other medical people who wear exam gloves and masks when conducting one on one contact which includes touching and “very close” proximity to a patient. This is nothing new at all.
As RV’ers we should be cognate of such universal precautions and exercise them. Simple things like washing hands with disinfectant soap several times a day and following little things like using a shopping cart in a grocery store. Since many of us travel to many different destinations and locations it’s just yet another reason. Other universal precautions are things like avoid travel to Mexico at least until their own situation is brought under control. You may also want to avoid shaking hands with strangers, something we as firefighter paramedics stayed away from in known cases or suspicions UNLESS we were gloved up. Just common sense things to think about. Avoid public restrooms when possible as well. This would include campground and park facilities if possible. If not simply use some common sense and carry your own little bottle of anti bacterial soap with you and use it for your hands afterward, that’s all. I carry one in my tow vehicle and in the RV as well. Good old hygiene goes a long way in preventing many illnesses.
I think all the media hype has caused a much larger scare and panic than needed. With just under 1,000 cases confirmed worldwide I’ll try and put it in perspective. Take one small rural town with that population and in the entire world and it kind of makes you realize at this point how big it’s “not”. I sure do not think there is a need for panic at all. One thing I learned early on in my career was panic bought you nothing but trouble. When HIV and AIDS began a swarm of panic and hysteria followed. It certainly has killed many more than the flu and obviously is worldwide as well as others such as Hepatitis, but it did not turn into the global disaster we all thought it would. Bad yes, but everybody in the world didn’t get it and die is what I am trying to say. Like I said I dealt with these patients daily almost and never caught a thing. I used universal precautions.
Since most of us RV’ers traveling are often outside our own “safe environment” following good hygiene and universal precautions is a must on a every day basis anyway just with everything else there is out there besides the new flu strain. If you are away from home (or not) the last place I’d want to be if I needed NON emergency medical attention would be a crowded emergency room sitting shoulder to shoulder with people coughing, sneezing and everything else. Right now ER’s are being inundated with people with “flu like” symptoms. If at home simply call your doctor and advise of your symptoms and go from there. If away from home contact a local urgent care facility and I would contact them first before dashing down there in case they have specific instructions for you.
Isolating yourself from the outside world is not good like staying away from public places and restaurants entirely as there are a ton of things out there you could use as excuses to do so. Again just use good common sense in your choices. One reason many (according to doctor friends of mine) people in Mexico have died from the latest strain of flu is unfortunately because many are in rural areas where health care is not as good, many times the flu has been allowed to go on untreated until it’s too late and in many cases diet and hygiene are not what they should be in many other countries causing additional factors. Remember the regular flu kills thousands every year as do other illnesses.
These are just my observations and opinions and having spent so many years dealing with patients with contagious diseases and having to have one on one contact with many I am just offering my take on the matter. Be safe in your travels and certainly enjoy yourselves, just use good common sense.
Tony (aka Firedude)
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