The world will never be the same. People are out of work. Factories are retooling to make equipment that we need to fight this war. The President of the United States has declared an emergency in every state at the same time, which has never happened before. No one really expected this.
We aren’t prepared for things like this to happen, are we? The government can respond to something like this. Industry can ramp up production quickly in response to something like this. It won’t be so bad. We’ve heard it all and more but do we realize we are at war?
We are at war with an enemy we fight every day but one that we have never before seen. We are at war with an enemy so small that it takes an electron scanning microscope to see it but we see its effects all around us. We are at war with an enemy so powerful it made the world close its doors, populations were ordered to stay inside, and many industries nearly ceased production.
The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) causes Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is the smallest enemy we as a world have fought together on such a large scale for a hundred years since the 1918 “Spanish Flu”. We have had epidemics and World Wars, and men and women have died in great numbers, but nothing has brought the whole world to its knees like this has today. No country or people go unaffected and many who are affected go unnoticed.
Others say we are not at war with this virus or even with the disease it causes. They say that many will be infected but overall few will die. That the cure is worse than the disease, so to speak. That the economic havoc caused by shutting down the world will create more suffering and death than the disease and death that this virus will cause. We don’t know that nor will we really ever be able to tell for sure. Nearly every affected region has responded to the pandemic with restrictions in some way and so we have little to compare to.
One thing we do know is that people are dying and more will die. People will die no matter what we do. That doesn’t mean we do nothing or that at the first sign of reprieve we throw down our weapons. This enemy has infiltrated the very ranks of our fighting forces, first responders and healthcare workers. Hundreds have died attempting to fight this virus. Hundreds who thought they were doing the right thing to help others. Hundreds who thought they were protected because they were using the personal protective equipment (PPE) they had been trained to use. Maybe some didn’t have proper PPE because of the volume of patients they were seeing that might have been infected with the virus and supply could not keep up with demand.
Right now as healthcare providers who hold our civil rights in high regard, specifically the right to keep and bear arms, we see many of our rights being infringed upon. We see government officials ordering that we limit our movement, our ability to make a living, our ability to associate with others and, yes, even our ability to keep and bear arms. There is much we can do to fight back against this overreach of government control.
But I ask that we do so without sacrificing our and others’ health in the process. Many people are protesting the stay at home orders in their state. From what I see in pictures and video almost no one wore a mask. Almost no one was practicing social distancing. Michigan did it best by staying in their cars and creating a traffic standstill around the state capital.
How many of you had a month’s worth of food, water and toilet paper in your home? How many of us had a month or more of savings available to live on? How many of us were prepared? We talk about preparation all the time in the RKBA community. We talk about “pants on, gun on” and keeping our firearms in good working order. We talk about how to handle, clean, shoot and store our firearm safely. We talk about how to keep our family safe at home how to stay safe out in public. We talk about sheltering in place in a bedroom or safe room if our house is broken into unless we have a family member elsewhere in the house. We talk about not trying to “clear” our own home if we believe someone has broken in and we are in a safe place, in or out of our home. Let’s take some of this advice into the current war.
We cannot see this enemy. We need to take all the precautions that we can to avoid it. If we come in contact with it we do not know for sure what effect he will have on us. We may walk away unscathed, have minor short lived injuries, be critically injured and survive, or we may die. After we encounter this enemy we may unknowingly assist him in his campaign by spreading his forces among those we love and associate with. Do we wish to be a traitor?
We have been told many things we can do to fight this war at this time. Although the CDC is not our friend when it comes to firearms, but this time it really is a virus! This time the CDC does know what it is talking about, despite mistakes in not pushing testing early on. There is no specific weapon against this enemy. Avoidance is the best tactic. Most of us will eventually come in contact with it. If we all come in contact with the enemy at once we will not be able to help each other when we get injured. The economic chaos we experience today will mount.
Use situational awareness: Avoid the enemy. Stay at home when you can. Work from home if you can. If you must go out, avoid others, because you do not know who the unknowing traitors are.
Make personal preparation: Update your EDC. Keep yourself healthy. Get plenty of vitamins especially vitamin C, Zinc, D and others that help your immune system work well. Drink plenty of water; a half to a full gallon of water is a good place to start.
Get plenty of rest: If you’re off of your normal work schedule, don’t let your sleep get off schedule as well. Good sleep hygiene will help your body fight this war.
Protect other civilians: This begins with “social avoidance”, which is really “virus avoidance. It includes wearing a mask when you go out. This is more to protect others from what you don’t know you have, though it can help protect you from them. Avoid others as much as possible.
Help the fighting forces: Don’t go to the doctor unless you have to. If you think you need to be seen, call first. Don’t just show up at a walk-in clinic, acute care or ER. Most illnesses and injuries will heal themselves, but if you are concerned please call and discuss this with your primary care providers office first. They should be able to direct you to where you need to seek help if you do. If you think you have COVID-19, stay home unless you have shortness of breath, chest pain or otherwise need to be hospitalized. Again, call your doctor if you are concerned.
As Americans we can be united against this foe. We can also speak out against governmental overreach and control in ways that still protect us and our fellow Americans.
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— Dr. Sean Brodale is a family practitioner in Iowa. He is pursuing the right to carry in hospitals for eligible medical personnel. At DRGO he is involved in membership and public engagement projects.
All DRGO articles by Sean Brodale, DO
