Bernadette Loesch: Masks, vaccines, social distancing are proven best practices

To The Daily Sun,

During and after reading the recent letter from Sharon Lee (submitted August 5, 2021),  I been through a series of very emotional lows. The more I thought about it, the more I cringe.

I’ve been thinking about how to answer this latest uninformed misleading person. Because of my medical background and training, I’ve decided to respond in the following manner.

If Sharon Lee, God forbid, had a medical emergency which necessitated a call to 911, based on the content of her letter, it seems that she might be tempted to do or say the following:

1) Insist that the EMT’s rip off their masks and sterile (free from most harmful bacteria) surgical gloves (also free from any harmful bacteria) before she is transported to the hospital?

2) In the ER, will she insist that the staff remove their sterile surgical gloves and remove their masks before they exam her?  No antiseptics necessary before that IV drip is started or no hospital gown to replace her contaminate street clothes. 

3) Or, in worse case scenario; if surgery is required, will she insist that the medical staff in the sterile operating room remove all of their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) before she is sedated and has the necessary surgery performed which will save her life?

Science and medicine has evolved over hundreds of years, into ‘state of the art’* proven, reliable, best practices. We’ve come a very long way from using leeches to suck the poison out of someone’s body!

It has been proven that masks, vaccines, social distancing, and other proven suggested prevention methods save lives!    

*Definition of state of the art: the level of development (as of a device, procedure, process, technique, or science) reached at any particular time usually as a result of modern methods.

Bernadette Loesch

Laconia