5 BRONX WEEKLY May 3, 2020 www.BXTimes.com
Bronx nonprofi ts team up to increase food
distribution and protect local jobs
BY JASON COHEN
Local nonprofi ts are coming together
to help serve the Bronx during the
COVID-19 crisis.
The Bronx Community Relief Effort
(BxCRE), World Central Kitchen, The
Bronx Private Industry Council (The
Bronx PIC) Powered by Here to Here,
Bronx Community Board 9 and the Relief
Access Program for the Bronx (RAP-
4Bronx) are combining forces to increase
food distribution and protect local jobs.
This initiative is dishing out 16,000
meals and hundreds of grocery bags per
day throughout the Bronx to more than
61 locations and groups, including emergency
shelters, community-based organizations,
workers performing essential
frontline roles in healthcare and transportation
and residents living in public
and subsidized housing. The team aims
to continue increasing the volume of food
handed out to 50,000 meals daily with additional
funding.
“Since 2010, World Central Kitchen
has been providing fresh meals to people
affected by disasters both natural and
man-made,” said Nate Mook, CEO World
Central Kitchen. “We use the power of
food to heal and strengthen communities
in times of crisis and beyond, and we
know that a plate of food is so much more
than just a meal. We believe our work in
The Bronx, and across New York City, is
a reminder to the community that someone
cares about them and that tomorrow
will be better.”
The group’s food relief work has four
core components:
Meal distribution: World Central
Kitchen, local restaurants, Bronx-based
catering company Great Performances
and RAP4Bronx are distributing fresh
meals to high-need locations across the
borough;
Grocery delivery: RAP4Bronx, led by
York Studios and in partnership with
Bronx Community Board 9, is delivering
approximately 3,800 bags of groceries
per week to people and sites in need,
with the goal of increasing this volume,
from a distribution base at Bruckner
Commons;
Employing Bronx businesses and
workers: A network of Bronx restaurants
and distributors is preparing and
distributing these meals and groceries,
keeping many local workers safely employed.
York Studios is organizing meal
distributions, Great Performances and
Baldor Specialty Food are providing food
and supplies and meals are prepared by
Great Performances and seven Bronx
restaurants, including Mott Haven Bar &
Grill, Bronx Drafthouse, Bricks & Hops,
Beatstro, Hudson Smokehouse, Glenroy’s
Tavern, Bronx Tavern and Seis Vecinos.
World Central Kitchen is supporting and
organizing this effort;
Strong partnerships with communitytrusted
institutions, including local hospitals,
housing organizations, college
campuses and religious organizations.
“The support from The Bronx business
community for the people of the borough
in this time of unprecedented hardship
has been huge,” said Eddie Summers, executive
director of the Bronx Private Industry
Council. “This program is serving
thousands of meals to Bronx community
members, allowing Bronx business employees
to get back to work safely, and
bringing food and other emergency supplies
to people who need them. We look
forward to continuing building on this
work to bring more meals and supplies to
the people of The Bronx.”
Food set to be delivered to the needy
Photo courtesy of RAP4Bronx
Hospital Heroes: Monitoring the ventilators that keep patients alive
BY ST. BARNABAS HOSPITAL
Many COVID-19 patients
come into St. Barnabas Hospital
gasping for breath.
This is what makes Tracey
Martin-Johnson, who heads
the hospital’s respiratory therapy
department, such a critical
player during the pandemic.
She and her team, including
supervisors Radhames Rodriguez
and Shackera Abbott-Barcoo,
work closely with ICU/ER
physicians at patient bedsides,
managing and monitoring ventilators
and other breathing
devices.
“Ventilator management is
at the core of what we do,” said
Martin-Johnson, who works
with a team of about two dozen
respiratory professionals.
“Once the patient is intubated,
we put them on the breathing
machine, monitor their status
and assist them until they become
well enough to come off
the machine.”
The ventilator is a life support
treatment that helps people
breathe when they can’t do
it on their own. In many cases,
this mechanical device makes
the difference between life and
death. The respiratory team
makes changes on the ventilator
as needed, draws arterial
blood gases and works with the
physicians on appropriate ventilator
settings. Once the green
light is given by the physician,
they wean the patient from the
mechanical device.
Martin-Johnson alerts
the medical team to any acute
shortage of ventilators, an ongoing
problem at St. Barnabas
Hospital and many New
York City hospitals. This may
mean testing to see if patients
with chronic respiratory problems
who are hospitalized, and
don’t have the COVID-19 virus,
can tolerate being taken off
the traditional ventilators using
a non-invasive machine to
provide support so ventilators
can be saved for those patients
most dependent on them.
The entire respiratory
therapy team is also responsible
for the infection control
process of the ventilators so
that once the patient has been
extubated, the machine can be
put back into rotation expeditiously
¯ a process which can
take as little as 30 minutes.
“The team – each individual
works 12-hour shifts
as part of the department’s
24/7 responsibility – has been
continually going above and
beyond, working extremely
hard, pushing and giving everything,”
said Martin-Johnson.
“Tracy has a remarkable
knowledge of a broad range of
ventilators. We get all kinds of
ventilators and she’s fi gured
out how to use them all,” according
to Dr. Edward Telzak,
chair of the department of
medicine at SBH, who works
closely with the respiratory
therapy team and anesthesia
department on testing various
respiratory options.
Like other health care
workers on the front line,
safety is a major concern.
“As health care workers,
we have chosen this profession.
I’m passionate about the
work I do. Yet, safety is important,”
said Martin-Johnson.
“In my huddles, I’m very forward
with staff that safety is
a priority because I don’t want
them to get sick. As far as PPE
(personal protective equipment)
goes, I’m very much on
top of this.”
This includes hand delivering
appropriate PPE to all
staff members at the beginning
of each shift and reminding
them to use hand sanitizers
and washing their hands
regularly.
“Our limited numbers pose
one of our main challenges,”
she said. “But it’s very satisfying
that we have been sticking
together as a team during
a very tough time.”
The respiratory team at St. Barnabas Hospital St. Barnabas Hospital
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