Western Railroad Discussion > COVID-19 & RR Employees

I've recently read on TO's of some personel "distancing" due to the virus.  Just curious what MOW crews in crew trucks are doing when there's a rather full crewcab.  Doubt if the UNION would allow for anyone riding in the rear deck with fresh air and no seat belts, let alone the employees themselves in freezing temps. 😃 Ha!  I'd suspect most crewmen are respectful of their fellows and are free of the virus, or they would quarantine themselves.
At least on a Fairmont crew motorcar, they had fresh air and a mackinaw coat to bury their face into.  Just curious what's happening in the trucks in different areas, as track maintenance still must happen for the trains to roll.

I can’t speak for the M of Way guys but was provided a memo by a source from the Amtrak BLET local chairman in LA who addressed social distancing and their new “no qualifying employees” ( extras in cabs) policy to help protect all crews health and safety.
So, when this was brought up w/ a co-worker ( we work out of another Crewbase not covered by LA and in a different Div w/ a different LC) this idea was met w/ resistance and seen as an “attempt to get out of work” which was entirely not the case.
Sadly, some employees fail to see the risk involved at the current time, and will fail to protect themselves while assuming a defensive, almost hostile, attitude to another employee who requests the “distance” in a loco cab and wishes to exit the cab if more than 2 crew members are assigned to the job. Frankly, I found my Local Union to have little interest in issuing any directives to further protect their crews, but the local chairman did say to “take all precautions for your safety” after indicating that other problems were of greater importance to him at the current time.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/20 23:44 by IC_2024.

IC_2024 Wrote:
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> Sadly, some employees fail to see the risk
> involved at the current time, and will fail to
> protect themselves

It's not just Amtrak employees; it's almost universal. The Seattle area has been hit hardest and yet folks were crowding the beaches and parks over the weekend.

Stripped to the fundamental:

• Disease of respiratory system
• Passed through the air at widely varying reported distances of six feet or more
• Passed by touching surfaces that were touched by someone who is infected and has sneezed on the surface or sneezed on their hand and touched the surface, or touched their mouth, eyes or nose and touched the surface. Virus can apparently remain alive and contractable on some surfaces for days.
• Manifestation is pneumonia. Death comes from complete inability to breathe. There is a shortage of hospital space and medical personnel. If the spread occurs quickly, the entire medical system will be overwhelmed in days. Then, there will be no accommodation for folks who are reallly sick; they'll just suffer.
• There is a shortage of sedatives as well as breathing machines. Death that way could be a pretty horrible experience.
• There is no cure.
• There is no prevention other than no exposure.

That's all I need to know. But a look a little deeper shows:

• Yeah, the death rate is relatively low. I heard it described as being told that there is a guy at the exit to Walmart who will kill at least every 500th person out the door, maybe occasionally another one or two. Would you be cavalier about going to Walmart?
• Even lower than the death rate is the recovery rate. A person living through it and having no remaining infection makes headlines. The rest of the folks just remain horribly sick, with difficulty breathing up to unable and having a machine (of which there is a shortage) breathe for them.

Those last two just emphasise the all I needed to know part.

Staying out of circulation except for really cautious trips to the grocery store. I don't need to be ordered or even told twice.

TAW

Nearly  every motel mattress would be infected for days after any infected person slept in it.  All of our paper and coin money should only be handles wearing gloves.  Any restroom facility is likely infected by prior users.  Ultraviolet light should be used on your mail before you slit it open and burn the envelope. The eye is more likely to infect you than the mouth as saliva kills some virus. Use tight fitting eye cover when going to the market while you have gloves on, and ditch your clothes when you get home, and put them into wash but also dryer as you need 135 degree temperature to kill the virus, not just water. 

PlyWoody Wrote:
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> Nearly  every motel mattress would be infected
> for days after any infected person slept in it. 
> All of our paper and coin money should only be
> handles wearing gloves.  Any restroom facility is
> likely infected by prior users.  Ultraviolet
> light should be used on your mail before you slit
> it open and burn the envelope. The eye is more
> likely to infect you than the mouth as saliva
> kills some virus. Use tight fitting eye cover when
> going to the market while you have gloves on, and
> ditch your clothes when you get home, and put them
> into wash but also dryer as you need 135 degree
> temperature to kill the virus, not just water. 

This is nonsense.

Bob

Also for consideration, as long as TrainOrders is allowing threads solely about the coronavirus:
1. Most of the people who have died have had one or more pre-existing conditions. 
2. The percentage of overweight Americans is higher than ever.

So where is the passion for a healthy diet and exercise?  The "essential" stores are still bursting with crap "food" and soda pop for all the overweight people who think that all they need to do is stay home.

        A lot of Americans need to 'get out' and do something instead of being coach potatoes. I try to walk 5 -6 miles a day irrgardless of the weather and somedays the hardest part is just simply opening the door, after that DO IT! Where I ive the wind blows most every day, maybe it will blow the corona away too.   :)

Our SMART TD local has been pounding on management in our terminal complex to keep work areas, including locomotive cabs and register/break rooms, sanitary in compliance with CDC guidelines. Management promised to act, and even broadcast a plan through our local. But nobody has seen any of it actually being executed yet. Place is a pig sty. 

PlyWoody Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nearly  every motel mattress would be infected
> for days after any infected person slept in it. 
> All of our paper and coin money should only be
> handles wearing gloves.  Any restroom facility is
> likely infected by prior users.  Ultraviolet
> light should be used on your mail before you slit
> it open and burn the envelope. The eye is more
> likely to infect you than the mouth as saliva
> kills some virus. Use tight fitting eye cover when
> going to the market while you have gloves on, and
> ditch your clothes when you get home, and put them
> into wash but also dryer as you need 135 degree
> temperature to kill the virus, not just water. 

Actual testing info on surfaces survival: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/14/811609026/the-new-coronavirus-can-live-on-surfaces-for-2-3-days-heres-how-to-clean-them

As I have stated the carrier I work for likes to talk big talk, and never fall through. There isn’t even a can of Lysol to be found in the yard office. Oh yes if you LS more than 3 times in 90 days your RR career is toast too. Have a nice day.

Posted from iPhone

This is all beginning to seem like a Sharknado movie. Let's just talk BNSF Needless, if the temperature was our nice normal 80-85 and warming the virus would
have some difficulty spreading. But on, we're lucky to break low seventies. Everyone wants to be tested, then what? The only way that would make any sense or
difference would be to test everyone in the country and quarantee every positive test. And, so you test negative, who says would won't be positive three days from
now. Total quarantine in some areas is a great idea, I'd do that in NYC just on basic principles! What will break the back of the spread is some analgesic treatment
that will suppress the respiratory problem effects of the virus. This would be preferable to the black plague treatment of burning every affected individual.

Out 

Callum out pretty much sums it up. Either we shut the world down for the next 3 weeks or we use common sense and do whatever we can, but stop the hyperbolic rants. My 2 cents.

Posted from iPhone

callum_out Wrote:
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> This is all beginning to seem like a Sharknado
> movie. Let's just talk BNSF Needless, if the
> temperature was our nice normal 80-85 and warming
> the virus would
> have some difficulty spreading. But on, we're
> lucky to break low seventies. Everyone wants to be
> tested, then what? The only way that would make
> any sense or
> difference would be to test everyone in the
> country and quarantee every positive test. And, so
> you test negative, who says would won't be
> positive three days from
> now. Total quarantine in some areas is a great
> idea, I'd do that in NYC just on basic principles!
> What will break the back of the spread is some
> analgesic treatment
> that will suppress the respiratory problem effects
> of the virus. This would be preferable to the
> black plague treatment of burning every affected
> individual.
>
> Out 

According to the CDC, It is not yet known whether weather and temperature impact the spread of COVID-19. Some other viruses, like the common cold and flu, spread more during cold weather months but that does not mean it is impossible to become sick with these viruses during other months.  At this time, it is not known whether the spread of COVID-19 will decrease when weather becomes warmer.
As for analgesics, studies have found that if people infected with a variety of viruses and other microorganisms bring their fevers down, with Nsaids or with acetaminophen, their symptoms may last longer and they continue to shed virus for a longer time — meaning they may be contagious for longer periods.

i agree.  let's bite it right now with some needed quarantines,  starve these huge and growing clusters where covid-19 rapidly growing, and HOPEFULLY level this growth curve off..........

66

Fever is a natural immune system response to foreign bodies, bringing it down can be extemely counterproductive
though extreme fever may need to be controlled. This thing of bringing down little Johnny's 100.5 degree fever more
than likely leads to more extreme later life issues.

Out 

callum_out Wrote:
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> Fever is a natural immune system response to
> foreign bodies, bringing it down can be extemely
> counterproductive
> though extreme fever may need to be controlled.
> This thing of bringing down little Johnny's 100.5
> degree fever more
> than likely leads to more extreme later life
> issues.
>
> Out 
When I gotta fever, the only prescription that's gonna help...IS MORE COWBELL!!!

RRTom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Also for consideration, as long as TrainOrders is
> allowing threads solely about the coronavirus:
> 1. Most of the people who have died have had one
> or more pre-existing conditions. 
> 2. The percentage of overweight Americans is
> higher than ever.
>
> So where is the passion for a healthy diet and
> exercise?  The "essential" stores are still
> bursting with crap "food" and soda pop for all the
> overweight people who think that all they need to
> do is stay home.

sounds like most foamers fit into this crowd..... sad. 

skinem Wrote:
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> When I gotta fever, the only prescription that's
> gonna help...IS MORE COWBELL!!!

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