October 27, 2021

Look For The Helpers

Mr. Rogers once famously said, “When there’s a challenge or a struggle or a tragedy, always look for the helpers. There will always be helpers. And if you look for the helpers, you will know there is hope.“

That idea of ‘looking for the helpers’ is what Jason Foos and the Emergency Trauma Center (ETC) team experienced recently. Foos, an ETC supervisor, expressed gratitude for the response from employees who heeded their call for help during a trying time.

“COVID has taken a lot from us,” said Foos. “It’s taken our time, energy and so much from everyone. “But in the ETC, we’ve also been given a gift of help from many, many people across CentraCare.”

The team put out a call for help as they worked to manage their volumes during a very trying time. “Our director, Seth Royce, made the call to Incident Command requesting help and we were added to the ‘greatest needs’ list,” explained Foos.

The response was remarkable and people stepped up in a big way. “We had 140 people sign up to help us representing 86 different areas across CentraCare,” said Foos. “That’s made a huge difference for us in caring for patients.”

The ETC is a busy place, treating anywhere from 180 to 215 patients in any given 24-hour period. That can lead to as many as 40 or more people waiting in the lobby space, which creates a problem. “With our volumes and current space, there’s just not a lot of room for social distancing,” said Foos.

With the additional help, the ETC team was able to expand the capacity of their lobby space to include an additional space next to the emergency department, which was a tremendous improvement. “We’ve had so many great people just jump in to help – from everywhere across the system,” said Foos. “If we’re looking for helpers and we’re also looking to be a helper, I think we can really contribute a lot.”

If you are interested and able to volunteer to help in areas of greatest need, please click here to learn more and to sign up.