HEROES A salute to all Jasper County essential employees!
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, JUNE 25 & 26, 2020
Combatting COVID-19 is a team effort Newton Clinic’s pop-up tent provided peace of mind, ER staff kept each other strong
Christopher Braunschweig/Daily News Jennifer Williams, a registered nurse at MercyOne Newton Medical Center, demonstrates how she would put on Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) in the event a patient were to contract COVID-19.
By Christopher Braunschweig Newton News From morning ’til afternoon, Christy Lester barely moved outside her new workspace of a former sports concession trailer and a heavy
duty tent where patients were tested for COVID-19. It may not have been the most ideal setting, but it was crucial to preserving public health during the statewide pandemic. Lester wore personal pro-
tective equipment every day. A full gown, a mask and a face shield. She and her fellow nurse practitioners saw close to 35 patients per day. It was certainly a change of pace compared to the Newton Express Care Clinic in Hy-Vee,
which has closed down its medical services until further notice. To help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Newton Clinic administrators set up a temporary pop-up tent in the parking lot of the facili-
ty. Health care providers stationed in the makeshift clinic would only see patients experiencing a high fever, flulike symptoms or respiratory symptoms. Instead of buying potato chips and soda, guests were walking up to the concession stand style window expecting to be tested for the novel coronavirus. Before staff could call in the laboratory workers to administer nasopharyngeal swab testing, Lester remembered the list of questions she had to ask. “What are your symptoms? Where do you work? Who lives in your household? Have you been in contact with anybody that has COVID-19? Have you had contact with people who have tested positive in your place of employment? What kind of contact was it? How long did you spend with them?” This was the new normal for health care providers all across the country as they continued to combat the virus. Lester and company were on the frontline, helping their community as much as they could, even with limited testing supplies. The team’s seclusion told residents that Newton Clinic cared about their well-being. Mark Thayer, the clinic administrator, said the tented clinic was “a place for evaluation, testing and treatment of TEAM | 3
EMTs on the frontline of the pandemic Newton veteran talks about changes at the department By Dustin Teays Newton News During the coronavirus pandemic it is important to honor those medical professionals who assist the public. Especially someone like Joe Coen who has been with the Newton Fire Department since 1988. Coen served in the National Guard and during that time one of his friends was a volunteer firefighter who thought Coen might enjoy that career. Coen became a volunteer in the early 80s and really liked being a firefighter. “Then I thought well I’d like to do it professionally so I started taking tests,” Coen said. “Newton called me for an interview and the rest is history. I’ve worked here ever since.” Coen was unaware
the department also handled medical emergencies because he applied to do firefighting. During his orientation, he found out he would become an EMT. While he started out enjoying the firefighting portion, which he still does, he has grown to enjoy his EMT profession. “I found over the years that I like being able to help people in a more personal way,” Coen said. “It’s more individual and I kind of like that almost a little bit better.” Working through a pandemic isn’t something Coen thought he would ever have to do. With it comes its own challenges like extra personal protective equipment (PPE) when going on calls to protect patients as well as the EMTs themselves.
File Photo Joe Coen, center left, a firefighter at the Newton Fire Department, helped to deliver the game ball at a home Newton Football game in October. Coen has been with the department since 1988. The COVID-19 crisis has placed a spotlight on the frontline health care workers and EMTs serving our community.
“On all calls we are wearing N95 masks at a minimum when we go in and we try to just send one person in,” Coen said. As always, medical professionals are important to keeping the community safe and healthy and they do many things for the community. Coen said
he doesn’t feel his role in the community has changed much since the pandemic took over. “They are extremely important in trying to keep people alive ... They keep getting better at taking care of them,” Coen said. Since the pandemic began, certain requirements in the EMT world
have been affected, besides the added PPE. An extra importance has been placed on hygiene like hand washing or using hand sanitizer even as things continue to change. “It is constantly trying to stay on top of it and learn,” Coen said. Of course coronavirus has upended many
aspects of peoples lives. For Coen his life has changed in various ways like not being able to teach at places like Mercy College among others. Additionally, Coen looks forward to getting back to normal, if there is a normal. “I like to travel,” Coen said. “And of course you can’t travel very many places because everything is closed. I’m not able to hang out with my personal close friends like I like to or my parents. I haven’t gone to go see them.” During the pandemic there has been a large outpouring of support for medical professionals and during such an uncertain time there is also a lot that can be taken away from the pandemic whether that be professionally or personally. “We just need to be nice and compassionate,” Coen said. Contact Dustin Teays at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or dteays@newtondailynews.com