Squash players around the country are doing their part to help during this time, and 黑料不打烊 will recognize these champions each week in an ongoing 鈥淪quash Players Serve鈥 series. Submit a short video or story or tag us @USSquash on , or , to share your stories of squash players supporting the community during the pandemic.
The U.S. medical community are continually adapting and preparing for what鈥檚 next during the ongoing pandemic. Grace Birmingham, a certified nurse who serves as the Director of Surgical Services at University Hospital and Medical Center in Tamarac, Florida, offered a glimpse at how at smaller facility is meeting the challenge.
Birmingham has been based in Florida since 2006 and manages the operating rooms in the small community hospital located in Broward County, just north of Miami. Like the rest of the country, Broward County and University Hospital were forced to adapt to an influx of COVID-19 cases in recent months. While most cases in southern Florida were centered in the Miami-Dade county, University Hospital experienced a wave of positive patients in-house and in the Intensive Care Unit.
鈥淎nybody who is in healthcare and has hands-on contact with patients has been in an incredibly stressful position,鈥 Birmingham said. 鈥淔or my colleagues it鈥檚 been far more stressful because they鈥檝e been in the rooms with these patients and they don鈥檛 know if the patients are positive or negative. So what are they bringing home to their family? It was quite a steep learning curve for all of us and that was heightened by all of the panic across the country. How do we deal with our patients and protect ourselves? We鈥檙e fortunate that we never had any shortages of PPE, but we did have to be very smart about distribution. It was a bit unnerving at first, but this is what we signed up for as nurses and as professionals in patient care.鈥
Like all hospitals throughout the country, day-to-day protocol has completely changed due to the pandemic. In Florida, non-essential surgeries were postponed and out-patient care were restricted to essential procedures. Birmingham is currently preparing for a major influx of elective procedures in the coming weeks as Florida鈥檚 regulations shift.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been an underlying thread of anxiety in all of us,鈥 Birmingham said. 鈥淟ots of meetings, lots of planning, lots of what ifs. It took all of us out of our comfort zone. No longer were we able to joke around with our patients without masks on. We all wash our hands frequently obviously, but now doing it three or four times more often every day. We have to talk to people through masks to allay their fears, which can be difficult. It really caused us to dig deep. I鈥檝e been so fortunate everyone here have been collegial and our administration has been supportive of us. Patients can often make or break your day, but they鈥檝e all been extremely gracious and it鈥檚 been a nice reminder of why I went into this profession to begin with. I don鈥檛 get to be where I am unless I have these wonderful nurses and techs working for me, and they鈥檙e the ones who are on the front lines, I鈥檓 just a step removed. I feel for my staff. I鈥檓 trying to give them all the information I have and be as transparent as possible.鈥
Birmingham had always been an avid racquet sports player and picked up squash nearly thirty years ago at the Decathlon Club in Santa Clara, California. Birmingham as been an avid and regular player ever since, competing in numerous U.S. Women鈥檚 Team Nationals Championships (Howe Cup) and National Singles. Birmingham even won a national title, the women鈥檚 40+ in 2000 and was honored with the 2002 Feron鈥檚 Wedgwood Sportsmanship Trophy. Birmingham currently plays at Life Time Boca Raton, and while she looks forward to returning to the courts, urges the squash community to use caution and take preventative measures when courts are deemed appropriate to open by local government officials.
鈥淚 want people to think straight and act smart,鈥 Birmingham said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want people to be afraid to go out of their houses or go to the gym. They just need to be smart and follow directives of local officials. The squash community has a fabulous camaraderie, we鈥檙e a tightly-knit group. If you鈥檙e going back to playing squash, somebody who鈥檚 symptomatic isn鈥檛 going to be able to play obviously, but we need to be cautious of anyone who could be asymptomatic and follow club protocols. Wash your hands, be sensitive about what you touch and mind your distance. This isn鈥檛 going away, it could come back during flu season. I just hope that people can try to get back to this new normal that we鈥檙e facing, whatever that is. And people like can hopefully find a vaccine and treatment to help all of us.鈥
State and local governments around country are developing various phases of reopening with a wide range of timelines. Resumption of activity will vary by location and type of facility, and all plans must be evaluated in concert with local, county, state and federal guidance. preliminary return-to-play guidelines to help facilities navigate the challenges of reopening.
