\u201cWhen the coronavirus pandemic began, it became clear that our community, state, and country needed to support our health care providers and first responders,\u201d says Christina \u201cCJ\u201d Lombardi \u201913 (CLAS), who works in sales at New York-based Promotional Development, Inc<\/a>., which designs and manufactures retail displays. The company immediately donated 20,000 surgical masks to over 30 different health care providers in the Brooklyn, NY area and began manufacturing 47,000 face shields.<\/p>\n These masks and face shields can help save health care workers\u2019 lives<\/a> by protecting them from contracting the virus as they treat patients. But for weeks, there was a dangerously short supply in New York City. Hospitals rationed supplies,<\/a> even asking staff to wear the same mask for days. At the time, New York City alone had more positive cases than any other country<\/a> in the world.<\/p>\n Lombardi knew that Promotional Development, Inc., a company owned by her father and three close business partners, could help.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re plastics manufacturers and we have the equipment to cut and form plastic. So we adjusted to that need quickly,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n As a history major at UConn, Lombardi learned that throughout history, industries and manufacturers transitioned to help produce items or weapons during war or crisis. She said drawing on that information helped the company decide to step up.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best way to help out in any situation is to use the skills that you have. I\u2019m in a position where I can manufacture masks, but everyone can do their part even if that means taking this seriously and staying home.\u201d<\/p>\n Currently, they have sold 28,000 face shields, and have another thousand ready to ship.<\/p>\n On the Frontline<\/strong><\/p>\n As an undergraduate at UConn, Johnathon LeBaron \u201908 (CLAS) conducted research on how overcrowding in emergency rooms negatively impacts the care provided to patients. But 12 years later, the overcrowding in his own emergency department caused by COVID-19 was \u201cas close to a disaster as you could get.\u201d<\/p>\n LeBaron is medical director of the adult emergency department at New York-Presbyterian Queens (NYPQ) hospital in Flushing, New York. His work puts him in charge of a Level 1 Trauma center that has treated thousands of COVID-19 patients, with hundreds in critical condition.<\/p>\n Usually, an emergency department like LeBaron\u2019s at NYPQ can host between 220 and 230 new adult patients per day, who wait about eight hours for a hospital bed. But as the pandemic spread, the number of patients increased drastically, rising to up to 310 new adult patients each day.<\/p>\n More patients coming in had low oxygen levels and needed to be intubated – have a tube inserted to help them breathe – says LeBaron. With only so many ventilators to go around, and patients staying in the hospital for up to two weeks, LeBaron and NYPQ had to act quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the two weeks in the middle of the surge, patients were very sick and we didn\u2019t have anywhere to put them,\u201d LeBaron says. \u201cWe had a couple of days when it was tight, but we never ran out of ventilators for patients.\u201d<\/p>\n Hospital staff, including nurses, anesthetists, and clinicians from all departments, jumped in to help treat the patients and create space for them. They converted their endoscopy suite, their operation rooms, and their cafeteria into in-patient areas, where they could put sick patients on beds. For many of the doctors and nurses, seeing patients in their 30s and 40s succumb to the infection hit home.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re at risk of catching the virus every time we see a patient,\u201d LeBaron says. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a few doctors who caught it. Most of them are fine, but some need to be treated in hospital. That\u2019s scary.\u201d<\/p>\n LeBaron and NYPQ were able to stay one step ahead of the virus because of teamwork, and locals who donated food and supplies to the hospital workers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been incredible to see how much people care about each other,\u201d LeBaron says. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I feel like a hero, but I\u2019ve done everything I can to help patients, to get someone\u2019s mother or father back to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Getting the Message Right<\/strong><\/p>\n Three other UConn CLAS alumni are seeking funding to produce an app that would improve crisis communication to the general public during situations like the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n When COVID-19 began to spread, Aziz Sandhu, \u201919 (CLAS), Sahil Laul \u201919 (CLAS) and Sameer Laul \u201915 (CLAS) thought that few communications were doing a good job convincing the public of the importance of social distancing, with misinformation running rampant on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of abstract for most people,\u201d Aziz says. \u201cYou need to have an emotional connection to the data [about the severity of COVID-19]. Even a striking number may not resonate with people, so you need to put a face to it.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the major causes behind the rapid spread of the virus is that many people don\u2019t see the risks in their behavior<\/a>\u2014until it has affected someone they know personally.<\/p>\n \u201cWe found there were a lot of people whose voices were not being heard,\u201d says Sameer, a former MCB major. \u201cIt took time for clinicians’ voices to be elevated.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Christine](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/0-300x300.jpg\")
![\"Patients](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/nypq.discharge-300x169.jpg\")