Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. As we slog our way through week eight (for my family at least) of quarantine, I have tried to spend my downtime brushing up on, or learning new, useful skills. (Most of the downtime is while holding a sleeping newborn, while the rest of the family tries to catch up on sleep)
There has never been a better time when it comes to free access to quality information. We have talked before on this blog about hobbies and activities that put you in a better position no matter what happens. Being physically fit, knowing how to grow your own food, brew your own beer (especially this one), or some basic first aid. Which brings me to the Tourniquet.
I remember first learning about the Tourniquet as a boy scout (age 11 or 12) and I remember joking with my friends that “tourniquets solve all problems”. If you don’t know what a Tourniquet is, I should first explain that this was adolescent sarcasm, and they do not infact solve almost any problems.
A Tourniquet is a device for stopping the flow of blood typically by compressing a limb with a cord or a tight bandage. The idea is if you have a severe enough cut on an extremity where there is a possibility of bleeding out, restricting blood flow upstream of the cut will prevent you from bleeding out. However, you are restricting blood flow to everything downstream of the Tourniquet, and blood flow is pretty important for, ya know, staying alive.
The Tourniquet temporarily stops the immediate threat of bleeding out, but it doesn’t really solve the problem, I.E. the cut. And with it’s use comes a plethora of potential complications. Leave it on too long and risk nerve, muscle, and tissue damage, or necrosis (tissue death). When the Tourniquet comes off and blood flow returns to the area, the body sends extra blood causing excessive swelling and further complications, especially since the tissue was already compromised by the cut.
After the quick crash course in tourniquets, (pun intended), it isn’t hard to see the parallels in our COVID-19 quarantine. Quarantine, shelter in place, lockdown, whatever term we are using, is like putting a Tourniquet on this virus. We can buy ourselves some time to slow the spread so as not to overwhelm the hospital system, but it won’t solve the problem.
As we discussed above, deciding when to take the Tourniquet off (lift shutdown orders) is a tricky decision. Leave it on too long and we will see damage to the downstream systems like unemployment, permanent business closures, breakdown in supply chains, food shortages, and potentially civil unrest. Take the Tourniquet off to early and we risk flooding the hospital system that has already been compromised.
Typical Tourniquet timelines say that any longer than two hours will result in neurovascular damage. There is no playbook or established timeline for lifting shutdown orders, but I think we are already starting to see some of that damage. It will be up to all of us as individuals and families to assess the risk and make that decision for ourselves. Some of us might be able to hold on longer with the Tourniquet tightened, others may already be suffering irreversible damage.
The point is, there is no right answer and everyone’s situation is different. Risk assessed decisions carried out with appropriate precaution should be respected. That might mean staying home if you have immuno compromised family in the home. Or, it might mean getting back to work with appropriate risk mitigation. We can do what is right for our families and what is right for the nation as a whole, the two are not mutually exclusive.
Thanks for joining me and stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.
This week in SerenityThroughSweat, stroller runs with the face shield, El Duderino with his little brother Speedy, and Amish friendship bread baking and blanket forts on a rainy day.
