Graham, Donna
From: Steve Bar
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2021 1:11 PM
To: Board of Aldermen
Subject: In Support of Mask Ordinance and Our Healthcare Workers
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Respected Board of Aldermen,
I'd like to thank Alderman Klee for communicating with us about the recent BoH meeting and inviting our
opinion on the proposed mask ordinance in Nashua.
I am in full support of this ordinance. Frankly, it's a no-brainer.
My wife works in a hospital. She spares me the horror stories of what these nurses and doctors go through
every day. But she does occasionally share with me how her colleagues feel.
They are numb. Angry. Disillusioned. Demoralized. Baffled by the public's refusal to take simple steps to
protect themselves and others. They are understaffed and overwhelmed. They are beyond frustrated. They
want to scream. And they are LEAVING their profession.
That's the thing. These are people. With real emotions, like you and me. Even superheroes have limits. And I
fear we are extremely close to reaching those limits.
This is not specific to my wife's hospital. This is every hospital. Yesterday, I read an article in which Dr. John
Hick, an ER doctor in MN, described his work. "It feels like you are drinking from a fire hose with no way to
control that flow," said Dr. Hick. "I've been practicing for 25 years in the emergency department and every shift
I am working these days is like the worst shift of my career."
The leaders at the hospital in Minnesota took out a full-page newspaper ad this week. "We're heartbroken.
We're overwhelmed. Our emergency departments are overfilled, and we have patients in every bed in our
hospitals."
This is not some abstract, hypothetical issue in a far-away place. This is here. This is now. NH is one of the
top US states in cases per capita. The National Guard is assisting NH hospitals. ICU beds at Manchester's Eliot
Hospital are at 162 percent capacity, and 90 percent of their COVID patients are unvaccinated.
But we're not talking about vaccination here. That's a different issue for a different day. Today, we're talking
about a very simple, painless, and non-invasive step to curb the spread of this virus. A step every person can
take to turn down the fire hose and give our doctors and nurses a break.
Masks work. That's a fact. Masks are necessary to curb Covid. Unfortunately, most people won't voluntarily
wear them. That's why a mandate IS necessary. Without it, I truly fear for our hospitals’ ability to care for our
citizens. How can we expect them to continue to care for us if we don't take this simple step for them?
Steve Barry
33 Wellman Ave
Nashua 1
Ward 2
