Read how one nurse helped his local hospital with the Baton Q1
Perhaps the most essential of "essential workers" these days are the medical professionals: Doctors, Nurses, Respiratory Therapists, EMTs and the like who are on the front line of battling the global pandemic. From Seattle to south Florida and every point in between, these trained professionals have gone about their jobs and emerged as the heroes of 2020. And while knives and multi-tools have been relied on as "essential" tools since pretty much homo sapiens have been around, the heroes fighting the COVID-19 pandemic have leaned on tools like thermometers, respirators, face masks and other personal protective equipment. But Scott Ross, a SOG fan who works in the staff development department of an upstate New York hospital educating nurses, did share a story about how one SOG product has pitched in, even if ever so slightly.
Thinking on your feet
Ross, who's been a nurse for more than 30 years, was working near an entrance to his hospital as the COVID-19 pandemic began to unfold in late winter. Medical professionals at his hospital began screening visitors and staff as they entered, with the screening consisting of a series of questions and then a temperature check with a digital thermometer. "The batteries started to die in the thermometers," Ross said. "I was sent on a mission to find batteries, which I did. But, the battery compartment was held closed with a flathead screw. I could not find another screwdriver. Like most medical facilities, only maintenance has tools. I didn’t have the time to track them down." But Ross remembered the SOG Q1 Baton pen-tool he always carries with him had a flathead screwdriver on it. "I used my Baton to unscrew that fastener so the batteries could be changed," Ross said. "It happened more times after that. It allowed the screeners to quickly continue to do their job, keeping the employees, visitors and patients safe." Now, however, Ross and his coworkers have bigger challenges ahead and there's no quick fix like there was for the battery issue.
Larger issues loom
"It has been hard if I’m honest," Ross said, via email. "It’s like waiting for the tsunami wave to hit after the earthquake. You are watching ... anxious and, yes, scared. We all are. Scared we will be asked to do something we don’t think we can. Scared we won’t have an income if things stay slow. Scared we will get sick and take it to our families. And scared we will catch it and die. Even if we don’t talk about it, the thought is there. Nurses are trained to care for others first and themselves second, so the fear is something we don’t think about or talk about but it’s there." We may not always think about doctors and nurses until something like the coronavirus rocks our entire way of life. But today we thank Scott and his coworkers and all medical professionals for being there for us.
