Days 205-209: Life on a Contact Tracing Team

Whew! It has been two weeks since I started working full time on a contact tracing team in my home state. Although orientation started well before that, the last couple of weeks have been absolutely eye-opening. My role is technically as a Public Health Investigator, working with confirmed and/or probable COVID-19 cases. I help members of the community emotionally contend with receiving this difficult diagnosis, provide state guidance for best practices on isolation to maintain safety for other community members, explore possible sites of exposure, and compile information to connect and link cases within the county, state, country, and world, among other things. Most importantly, I work with a team made up of kind, dedicated public servants who have no greater wish than to mitigate and ease the challenges for the people living with this virus.

So far, my workdays have involved several different components, but there are a few that seem to permeate every day. I meet and interview new cases every day. I spend several hours on the phone providing emotional and physical resources to my cases, especially those who need to isolate. I invest a lot of my time in data collection and analysis. I utilize my team to explore outbreaks and exposures in our community and communities around the globe. And of course, it wouldn't be legitimate if there was not a lot of time spent charting everything in myriad different formats (emphasis on the myriad!) All that said: every day has been different.

For me this is a wonderful fit because there is stability in the hours I typically work with flexibility to get the work done that I need to do. Charting and correspondence with the correct channels often goes long past the official end to my work day. Typically I work about nine hours a day, although the range so far has been between 8.5-10.5 hours a day, five or six days of the week. I also am really enjoying this position because I am using the skills I learned in my master's program in psychology every day. Whether it is employing active listening techniques or motivational interviewing, or utilizing my love and knowledge about creating a story from statistics, I feel prepared to take on the challenges that this role offers. In return, I feel so fulfilled at the end of each day.

While my posts may be slightly less frequent due to this big shift for me, I feel it is paramount for me to continue writing and documenting as I continue to stay in quarantine and am working from home for the foreseeable future. We are still in the early chapters of this pandemic. I intend to continue moving the plot along to brighter and more certain days ahead.

These past couple of weeks have validated for me that this story takes all of us: compassionate healthcare workers, dedicated policymakers, effective government officials, courageous first responders...the list goes on and on, but the people who will really determine the course of this fight are you and me as citizens of this country, citizens of the world. People who make every day choices about taking precautions to protect yourself and community members. From the four-month-old to the 93-year-old who are in my caseload--we all have an impact that we don't often even see. Please continue to battle through this demanding time by following the guidance from your local health department and CDC guidelines.

Wear a mask.

Keep your distance.

Wash your hands.

Consider your fellow neighbors.

One case I am working with told me that they "do not believe in the government." Fair enough. However...I believe in you. I believe you can take steps to reduce the risk to your friends and family. I believe you can do everything in your power to beat back this illness. I believe that you will do your best. And at the end of the day, is there really anything more we can be asked to do?

I believe in you.

Prepare, don't panic,

-Allison