OPINION — You’ve seen the signs in yards and windows and at the tops of flag poles all over Washington County. They read, “Back the Blue.” We associate these private displays as support for the hundreds of brave law enforcement officers who protect us in our community. But did you know that the color blue is the most common choice for medical logos? That’s because blue represents such things as credibility, trust, knowledge, power, professionalism, cleanliness, calm and focus, the same attributes we expect our police officers to demonstrate.
Now, for as much as I will always support law enforcement, being that I am a retired Wisconsin Game Warden, I also have tremendous respect for our health care workers in Washington County who risk their lives every time they suit up and enter the trenches to fight the ongoing battle with COVID-19. People who work at Dixie Regional Medical Center do so with the knowledge that they could end up sick, incapacitated or even dead if they contract the virus. Yet, they selflessly toil day after day to save lives, our lives, on the COVID ward and clinics at the hospital.
Doctors and nurses of DRMC have been interviewed countless times on television and in print and the message is always the same: Please follow the simple Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and do your part to stem the flow of COVID-19 patients coming their way. A video was posted Dec. 8 by St. George News that is particularly heart-wrenching and powerful.
If this video doesn’t convince you to adhere to the three basic CDC guidelines to defeat this virus, I don’t know what will. They are: Practice social distancing; wash your hands frequently; and wear a face covering in public. It’s incredibly easy to do these three things, but yet there seems to be pockets of staunch resistance when it comes to using a mask. It’s baffling that people find it so tough to be a compassionate citizen by doing everything in their power to stop the spread of COVID-19, including covering their mouth and nose in public. It tells us they either don’t believe the doctors and nurses when they beg for cooperation or they simply lack respect for hospital workers and their fellow citizens.
Right now, we are in an extremely dark phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not the time to be complacent or to give up the fight. When you’re out and about and you see a “Back the Blue” sign remember that it includes police, doctors, nurses and other employees at the hospital, first responders, EMTs, firefighters, and of course, teachers. It’s time for us to prove that we Back the Blue – ALL the Blue.
Submitted by PAT LISI. Lisi is the Commandant of the Utah Dixie Detachment #1270, Marine Corps League. He and his wife live in Ivins.
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