News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.
By Lucy Maulsby A brightly colored banner sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Library hangs across the porch of the original brick building to remind patrons of the many ways in which the library nourishes the community and serves as a vital resource, perhaps especially as current events demand new forms of engagement. Since…
The Lincoln Public Library is now accepting returns in its book drop and plans to offer contactless curbside pickup of books reserved online by patrons once a tent to cover its handicapped parking area has arrived. The book drop accepts returns of items borrowed from any library in the Minuteman Library Network. Nothing is due…
Editor’s note: for more background on the SSEF, see “South Sudanese organization offering programs in Lincoln” (September 19, 2017). By Ellen Meyer Shorb In this time of thinking about race and what each of us can do, I’d like to acknowledge a wonderful local organization, the South Sudanese Education for Families, and suggest you consider…
Chat with Lincoln’s public health nurse Do you have questions about Covid-19 prevention, transmission, symptoms, or treatment? Are there other concerns you have about seasonal health issues such as ticks and Lyme disease or EEE? Do you have general health questions? Join Tricia McGean, Lincoln’s Public Health Nurse, on Wednesday, June 10 at 10 a.m….
The June 2 story headlined “The Commons has fewest Covid-19 deaths among area facilities,” contained on incorrect figure for the number of Covid-19 cases reported at the Sunrise in Weston assisted living facility. The correct number is less than 10, not 10–30. The article has been corrected and also updated with a list of facilities…
By Alice Waugh The Commons in Lincoln has accounted for 16 of the town’s 36 cases, and all seven fatalities in Lincoln were residents of the facility who had additional medical issues, Lincoln Public Health Nurse Tricia McGean reported on June 1. The virus has hit nursing and assisted living facilities especially hard nationwide, since…
While cases of Covid-19 are still increasing in Lincoln and surrounding towns, the curves are flattening and rates of increase are slowing. For comparison, here are the total number of cases and cases per 100,000 residents in some larger cities and towns. (Source: Mass.gov) Click either chart to enlarge:…
Heather Broglio (front right) and her Beth Israel colleagues with bags of snacks made for the staff by a Bedford woman.
Heather Broglio and her husband Mike (holding a cupcake on his birthday), who works in information technology for the hospital’s anesthesia department and has been rolling out a new software system to be used in the operating rooms.
“I am usually a outpatient physical therapist that works at [Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital’s] Lexington and Chestnut Hill sites but, when the epidemic started and our caseloads were cut drastically, the hospital took its staff and redeployed them in the hospital to where they would be needed,” she said. “Some people ended up handing out masks or scrubs and some of us ended up being redeployed to respiratory therapy.
“Respiratory therapists are the complete unsung hero in this whole epidemic. They are in charge of the vents, adjusting parameters, keeping them running and managing the tubing going from the ventilators into the patient; taping the tubing and holding it secure if the patient is moved. A strategy that has worked well with Covid patients is called proning and is basically having someone placed on their stomach while on a ventilator. This allows better airflow into the lungs.
“When we were redeployed to respiratory, we were trained to tape the tubes to keep them from coming out of the patient when they are moved [to the face-down position], and then to hold the head and the tube as they move from front to back and the reverse. In regular times, at BI there may be 20-30 vents in use; currently [May 14] there are 72 in use — and this is down from the maximum that were used. There was no ‘prone team’ before the epidemic, so the hospital created the team to free up the respiratory therapists to do other vital functions. It’s really amazing the amount of people redeployed in the hospital and how well it all works.”
Bella Wong of L-S agrees to contract extension The Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School Committee has announced that it has finalized a three-year contract extension with Superintendent/Principal Bella Wong. “We appreciate Ms. Wong’s work and dedication over the past seven years and are thankful to have her experience and leadership as we navigate the challenges caused by…
(Editor’s note: scroll down to see photos from the parade.) To the editor: There’s something about a parade on a beautiful day that brings joy to everyone along its path. It doesn’t have to be a holiday; it just has to be a time set aside. And once the parade participants gather, the excitement and…