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Mar. 15th, 2021 09:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bobcatmoranDay 2 at the Convention Center! I wound up spending a good-sized chunk of the day on "transport," aka being the muscle to push people in wheelchairs. Kind of awkward because the training was almost worryingly precursory — here's the brakes, make sure you take those off before you go and put them on when people get in/out and when you're stopped, wipe the chair down with these wipes when you bring it back, please be nice to the people you're pushing and help them if they need it — but neglecting things like (thank goodness one of the experienced folks told us before we used the ramp) "back down the ramp so people don't go tumbling headfirst out of the wheelchair."
I'm actually glad that the first time I did it was part of a large group from an assisted living facility, because that way I could watch more experienced people do it and I wasn't trying to be a supportive navigator of the whole vaccine system all on my own — it's hard to be a guide when you're not terribly familiar with all the cogs yet, even though there's folks stationed throughout to point you in the right direction.
I also got to experience the Joys Of Faceshields for the first time today, since I was out walking the floor of what's basically a medical facility, where you needed either goggles or a faceshield — and my glasses didn't count. I'd reach some sort of humidity equilibrium after a bit, but whenever I did anything like having to take down and readjust my mask for taking a drink of water, the whole thing would be thrown out of whack and my glasses or the faceshield or both would fog up.
Speaking of masks, while we were waiting for our assignments this morning, a group of us USDA folks were talking about how, since we're only ever seeing each other with masks on, and we've been together for a few days now, we're getting to recognize each other on sight — but only above the nose. I saw one of my coworkers at breakfast in the hotel restaurant this morning, and was amazed to find that he looked NOTHING like I'd thought he would when you can see his full face.
I also spent some time today filling in for breaks for people at various "wayfinding" stations, where you point people towards where they need to go next. There's a BIG problem with the layout of the building, where some genius put the door to a women's restroom RIGHT next to the identically-sized door to the stairs to the parking garage. So, needless to say, a lot of men were going in the door right past the arrow pointing to the parking garage and wandering into the women's restroom. A pox on whoever designed that. I spent a good hour just standing and saying loudly every 15 seconds or so (to be heard past the face shield) "Parking garage stairs, FIRST door!"
I finished up the day by directing people who'd filled out their paperwork to registration stations, where their info that they're actually receiving their 1st/2nd Pfeizer/Moderna vaccine is entered into the system. I'll be shadowing tomorrow at registration before hopefully being set to fly free and do it on my own.
On a side note, the number of orgs and groups working at this site is pretty amazing. It's run by a consortium of the 4 major hospital/clinic systems in the Portland area, and early on was manned mostly by people from those healthcare systems. But they all have healthcare jobs of their own to get to, so there's people now from the Army National Guard, the Coast Guard, FEMA, USDA, and just some plain old volunteers from the community who are all helping out.
Approximately 6000 vaccines were given out today, with a new record of over 1100 in the first hour. The beginning of the day tends to be the most crowded, since people show up early for their appointments and, quite frankly (with the GIANT CAVEAT that this will NOT apply to any other sites and may or may not change here), as long as you show up on the day you have your appointment, you'll be able to go through. You'll probably be waiting unnecessarily out in the cold, though, if you show up an hour and a half before the doors open. Yes, there are people there that early — I have to walk past them on my way to the staff/volunteer door.
Also on a side note, if you come with someone to be their support/transport to a big vaccine site like this, for the love of little green apples, PLEASE don't sit down, start scrolling through your phone, and not notice that they've kept going on through the vaccine process without you. We get a lot of solo seniors who came here by themselves, so an elderly lady who's slightly confused with things will get shepherded on through the surprisingly efficient system and before you know it, they'll be waiting for you by the exit wondering where you are and you will still be on your phone.
Day's stats:
Vaccines at the site: 6000+
Daily steps: 10,820
Mother-in-laws misplaced: 2
I'm actually glad that the first time I did it was part of a large group from an assisted living facility, because that way I could watch more experienced people do it and I wasn't trying to be a supportive navigator of the whole vaccine system all on my own — it's hard to be a guide when you're not terribly familiar with all the cogs yet, even though there's folks stationed throughout to point you in the right direction.
I also got to experience the Joys Of Faceshields for the first time today, since I was out walking the floor of what's basically a medical facility, where you needed either goggles or a faceshield — and my glasses didn't count. I'd reach some sort of humidity equilibrium after a bit, but whenever I did anything like having to take down and readjust my mask for taking a drink of water, the whole thing would be thrown out of whack and my glasses or the faceshield or both would fog up.
Speaking of masks, while we were waiting for our assignments this morning, a group of us USDA folks were talking about how, since we're only ever seeing each other with masks on, and we've been together for a few days now, we're getting to recognize each other on sight — but only above the nose. I saw one of my coworkers at breakfast in the hotel restaurant this morning, and was amazed to find that he looked NOTHING like I'd thought he would when you can see his full face.
I also spent some time today filling in for breaks for people at various "wayfinding" stations, where you point people towards where they need to go next. There's a BIG problem with the layout of the building, where some genius put the door to a women's restroom RIGHT next to the identically-sized door to the stairs to the parking garage. So, needless to say, a lot of men were going in the door right past the arrow pointing to the parking garage and wandering into the women's restroom. A pox on whoever designed that. I spent a good hour just standing and saying loudly every 15 seconds or so (to be heard past the face shield) "Parking garage stairs, FIRST door!"
I finished up the day by directing people who'd filled out their paperwork to registration stations, where their info that they're actually receiving their 1st/2nd Pfeizer/Moderna vaccine is entered into the system. I'll be shadowing tomorrow at registration before hopefully being set to fly free and do it on my own.
On a side note, the number of orgs and groups working at this site is pretty amazing. It's run by a consortium of the 4 major hospital/clinic systems in the Portland area, and early on was manned mostly by people from those healthcare systems. But they all have healthcare jobs of their own to get to, so there's people now from the Army National Guard, the Coast Guard, FEMA, USDA, and just some plain old volunteers from the community who are all helping out.
Approximately 6000 vaccines were given out today, with a new record of over 1100 in the first hour. The beginning of the day tends to be the most crowded, since people show up early for their appointments and, quite frankly (with the GIANT CAVEAT that this will NOT apply to any other sites and may or may not change here), as long as you show up on the day you have your appointment, you'll be able to go through. You'll probably be waiting unnecessarily out in the cold, though, if you show up an hour and a half before the doors open. Yes, there are people there that early — I have to walk past them on my way to the staff/volunteer door.
Also on a side note, if you come with someone to be their support/transport to a big vaccine site like this, for the love of little green apples, PLEASE don't sit down, start scrolling through your phone, and not notice that they've kept going on through the vaccine process without you. We get a lot of solo seniors who came here by themselves, so an elderly lady who's slightly confused with things will get shepherded on through the surprisingly efficient system and before you know it, they'll be waiting for you by the exit wondering where you are and you will still be on your phone.
Day's stats:
Vaccines at the site: 6000+
Daily steps: 10,820
Mother-in-laws misplaced: 2
