4 minute read
Waiting for the Hurricane
Kerry K. Carney, DDS, CDE
If you have ever lived in a coastal area under a hurricane warning, you know what it means to prepare for a devastating event before there may be any direct evidence of the impending disaster. Blue skies can belie the hurricane to come.
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The first time one experiences the calm before the storm, there may be a fair amount of disbelief and denial: “It may not hit us.” “It may be much weaker than the forecast.” “Why put in a lot of fortification efforts when chances are that we won’t get the brunt of the storm?”
Some folks board up their structures and move away from the coast. Some folks buy supplies and hunker down. Some folks disregard the warnings and hope to win the meteorological lottery.
The strongest cyclonic event recorded was the Bay of Bengal cyclone of 1970. It resulted in over a half-million deaths in India and Bangladesh. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane, Mitch, occurred in 1998 and caused 11,000 to 19,000 deaths throughout Florida and Central America. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina claimed more than 1,800 lives and caused $125 billion in damage in the Gulf. The destructive power of nature is a sobering lesson to learn when you live in hurricane country.
Now we prepare for another kind of hurricane. We face the public health cataclysm of COVID-19.
Here at the Journal of the California Dental Association, we plot our issues a long way out. In 2020, we are already slotting topics for publication in 2022. I tell people that steering the CDA Journal is somewhat like piloting a supertanker. You have to navigate many miles ahead of where you are at the moment.
By careful planning, we stay relevant and even ahead of the curve with topical issues. However, the current public health turmoil has necessitated a pivot and a rapid course adjustment.
We have decided that our primary mission under the present circumstances is to help our readers get the most up-todate and relevant information that can aid in the successful navigation of these choppy waters in this uncertain time.
To that end, we have consolidated the May and June issues into one May/June issue. This allows the redirection of necessary staff to help with the dissemination of time-sensitive information to our members through other avenues. The combined issue not only provides an assortment of scientific articles on oral health, but it will act as a directional signpost pointing our readers to helpful and timely information on COVID-19. It is our hope that we can help all our readers appreciate and feel comfortable with the digital platform. At this time, we feel it is the most effective medium through which we can deliver the most current information available:
■ CDA COVID-19 Information Center: cda.org/COVID19.
■ Key CDA communications: cda.org/COVID19-leadership.
■ Economic relief FAQs: cda.org/COVID19-economic.
■ Educational webinar series: cda.org/COVID19-webinars.
■ Licensure and C.E. FAQs: cda.org/COVID19-licensure.
■ California Department of Public Health guidance documents: cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/ DCDC/Pages/Guidance.aspx.
In times like these, when information is updated frequently and the environment is shifting rapidly, it is important to opt in and put your address on the list to receive emails and text alerts. To ensure you’re receiving the latest information from CDA, make sure your CDA profile is up to date. Log in at cda.org, click on My Account and update your email preferences.
In a story I read long ago, two men prepared for a duel. They met on a hilltop and stood ready to engage. At the moment they were about to aim and shoot at one another, the wind changed. Both men were seafarers and both realized simultaneously that a storm was coming. Without hesitation, they both stood down because they recognized that the imminent danger of an approaching cyclone dwarfed their personal agenda of revenge or satisfaction.
There is an approaching storm that may extract a devastating toll on human life. I am writing this message in the last days of March. I can only hope that by the time our May/June issue reaches our readers’ hands, we will have come through an economic and personal trial together, stronger and more convinced of the value of each other and more secure in our unity of purpose.
[Editor’s Note: As this last print version of the Journal goes to press, we have lived through eight weeks of shelter-at-home. Though oral health care providers are considered essential workers, in accordance with the advisory issued by the CDC, we have closed our offices to all but emergency care in order to slow the COVID-19 infection rate and preserve personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical workers on the front line of the infection surge. As the momentum builds to return to practice, we are all evaluating our patient screening, engineering controls and administrative changes and counting PPE. Like mariners evaluating our ship after a storm, we hope for the best and prepare for more stormy seas ahead. It is yet to be seen if we are navigating into fairer winds or experiencing the calm of the hurricane’s eye.]
