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COVID-19
WHERE TO FROM HERE

Even before 9/11, BCMS has been involved with emergency and the other students organized and formed the Students Al-
preparedness in our community and for almost that entire time, liance for Emergency Response, calling it “SAFER Texas”.
I have had the privilege of being the BCMS staff liaison with the Because of BCMS’ continuing work with STRAC and Metro
BCMS Emergency Preparedness Committee. This included work- Health through the years, BCMS reached out to STRAC and vol-
ing closely with the STRAC in the development and administra- unteered to be a conduit to get PPE to those physician practices
tion of the Unified ID Badge (post 9/11) and with Metro Health left out of the distribution of PPE from the Strategic National
coordinating the physician and medical response to hurricane Stockpile (SNS) in Bexar County and in all 23 counties covered
evacuee sheltering following Hurricanes Katrina/Rita. As a result by STRAC (Trauma Service Area – P). In this role, BCMS, with
of this community involvement, I also represent BCMS at the the help of and dedication of SAFER Texas, has become the
Regional Medical Operations Center (RMOC) located at the PPE distribution headquarters for PPE distribution to physicians
Emergency Operations Center (EOC). in the region. To help it work, SAFER Texas created a request,
Once the COVID-19 crisis was identified as a pandemic, I tracking and distribution process. They created a PPE request
reached out to Metro Health to identify BCMS’ role in the form for physician practices, a tracking system so every piece of
COVID-19 response in San Antonio. I started my days at the PPE donated/received is accounted for, a volunteer scheduling
EOC/ RMOC and began attending the Metro Health Testing form to manage the local distribution of PPE to physician prac-
Taskforce meetings. Testing capacity was being ramped up with tices by the student volunteers, and a shipping process to reach
the first drive through testing site at the Freeman Coliseum. It physician practices in rural areas and other counties.
became evident very quickly that while the testing capacity was Besides ensuring PPE for physicians, BCMS leadership and
there, the sample collection supplies were extremely limited. staff participate in a multitude of conference and video calls to
Metro Health reached out to BCMS about the issue and the So- closely monitor and report on the activities of various entities
ciety began asking physician members for their help by donating who interact and overlap with outside crisis management organ-
specimen collecting kits and Viral Transport Medium with syn- izations, including UT Health/University Hospital, STRAC,
thetic-tip swabs, such as Influenza tests, HSV PCR tests and var- DSHS, Metro Health, TMA and the BCMS COVID-19 Task
ious STD tests. Dr. Lindsey Irvin heard about the limitation on Force.
testing due to the supply shortage, and connected me with the The BCMS COVID-19 Task Force was formed by physician
head of Texas Public Radio (TPR). Public service announcements leadership comprised of the BCMS Executive, Public Health, and
(PSAs) were soon developed and broadcasted to the listeners of Emergency Preparedness Committees. This task force has mon-
TPR asking for donations of the needed specimen kit supplies. itored, discussed, and identified issues with the handling of the
Through distributive emails to BCMS physician members and the crisis by the city and county. They have communicated with
PSAs, the community physicians stepped up and donated enough Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Judge Nelson Wolfe on issues deemed
of these collection kit items to keep the drive-thru testing station important to the community on behalf of the physician members
running for the first few weeks of the crisis. of BCMS.
In early March, a third-year medical student, Gwendolyn Quin- There is so much to be proud of at BCMS! Your Medical So-
tana, reached out to BCMS after seeing the need for personal pro- ciety has stepped up when a need was identified and responded
tective equipment (PPE) first-hand in the medical community. as the COVID-19 crisis has evolved. I am blessed to work with
Her family is well connected in the construction industry and she and for such an outstanding and caring group of physicians, staff
and her family, within two days, organized a PPE donation drive and community officials! No amount of emergency preparedness
with the construction industry and contractors across the region training and planning could have fully prepared us for this pan-
that included construction grade N95s, gloves, goggles, face demic, but the relationships that BCMS and its people have fos-
shields, etc. being donated and made available to physicians in tered through the years gave us a tremendously strong foundation
need within the medical community. But the donation drive didn’t with which to work.
stop there. Miss Quintana reached out to other groups in the
community such as the Vietnamese community and some distill- Melody Newsom is the Chief Operating Officer for BCMS
eries that stepped up to help the cause with gloves, face shields, and the staff liaison to the BCMS Emergency Preparedness
face masks and hand sanitizer. Other students also began to vol- Committee. She has been with BCMS since October 1999.
unteer to help with the distribution of the PPE. Miss Quintana

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