thank you frontliners essay brainly

Send a Message to Our Frontline Healthcare Workers

Video transcript.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Our University of Chicago Police Department showed up in full force with some of their partners in the Chicago Police Department to really acknowledge all of our healthcare workers here at University of Chicago. It really provides such an amazing start to our Nurses Week Celebrations.

We wanted to show our appreciation for the work that's being done during the pandemic.

This hospital is the center for us where we bring everything to, everything we deal with. And on top of this pandemic, they've risen to the occasion and done an unbelievable job, day in and day out, and this is just our way to show some appreciation of what they do.

It's such a great way for our other first responders in the community to really show support for the healthcare workers during this time. You know, you can see everyone has their mask on, but they are smiling ear to ear. Lots of cell phones out taking pictures, texting their families, and saying, "Can you believe that this was done for us?" So it's really such a nice way to show support to each other.

It's fantastic -- fantastic. Again, they're giving so much of their time away from their families to be on the frontlines of this pandemic to make sure that our city pulls through this.

This is when we step up. This is when everything counts.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Thank You to Our Heroes

Right now, our healthcare workers are on the frontlines of battling the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that’s spreading rapidly throughout our city, state and nation. They are putting themselves in the path of this virus — in Chicago and around the world — in this unprecedented crisis. Our doctors, nurses, technicians, transporters, EMTs, pharmacists and everyone who supports patient care are rising to the occasion and caring for our most vulnerable populations. 

Thank you — from everyone at UChicago Medicine and Ingalls Memorial — for the sacrifices you make, every day and especially during this pandemic. Your dedication, commitment and courage deserve our deepest gratitude and admiration. Your service to patients is saving countless lives and making thousands of differences. 

To express your appreciation and gratitude for these everyday heroes, visit Facebook.com/UChicagoMed  and use #ThousandsofDifferences to share encouraging words, artwork and thank you notes.

Meet the COVID-19 frontline heroes

Molly Kinder · May 2020

Part of an ongoing series

The COVID-19 frontline

Despite the hardships and health risks, millions of essential frontline workers continue to do their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. These hardworking heroes are keeping Americans fed, picking up their trash, providing them life-saving medicine, delivering their groceries and packages, preparing their food, cleaning their hospitals, caring for those who are most vulnerable, and keeping us safe—often while earning low wages and few benefits.

In this series, I will introduce you to some of these frontline workers: In their own words, they share the risks and challenges they face, the concerns they have, and how they are coping. They will highlight what policymakers, employers, and each of us can do to better protect and support them.

Unsung health heroes

Although doctors and nurses—who earn a median wage of $105 per hour and $34 per hour, respectively—receive the lion’s share of public recognition for their life-saving role in the fight against COVID-19, they represent less than 20% of all essential health workers.

Millions of other health workers earn significantly lower wages while receiving less public recognition for their roles, despite their sacrifices. Nearly 7 million essential workers are employed in low-wage health jobs on the COVID-19 front lines, including:

• Health care support workers such as orderlies and phlebotomists
• Direct care workers such as home health and personal care aides
• Health care service workers such as housekeepers and cooks

Median wages across these occupations were just $13.48 per hour in 2019—well short of a living wage. More than 80% of them are women, and they are also disproportionately workers of color.

Learn more about the essential role they are playing in the pandemic and what policymakers and employers should do to better protect, compensate, support, and respect them.

Source: Data from May 2019 Occupational Employment Statistics and the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey

Grocery workers

Across the country, more than two million people work in grocery stores. Deemed essential businesses, grocery stores and supermarkets are staying open even in the worst-hit communities.

Due to close proximity and frequent face-to-face interaction with customers and colleagues, grocery workers are highly exposed to COVID-19 , and the virus has already killed several of them . Employers have responded with new safety measures , but more aggressive safeguards and wider access to personal protective equipment (PPE) are needed.

Pay for most grocery workers is low. Grocery cashiers earn a median wage of just $10.93/hour . Employer-provided benefits are rare for non-unionized grocery workers. Prior to the start of the pandemic, Walmart and Kroger, the country’s two largest grocery chains, offered hundreds of thousands of workers no paid sick leave. Most large grocery chains have introduced temporary COVID-19 sick leave as well as one-time bonuses or hazard pay of an additional $2/hour.

Yvette Beatty

Home health aide · Age 60

“I am feeling scared. Saying goodbye to my family, I don’t know if it is going to be the last goodbye.”

“I hope and pray to God I would never get it. I don’t think I would even go home. I would tell my kids: Give me a tent, feed me from the outside.

“We are running around with no protective gear. I would love to see us have hazard masks, instead of putting cloths over our face or going to the Dollar Store and buying dollar masks. We are taking a chance on our life, too. We need equipment.

“You’re telling me, before you pushed out these trillions and millions of dollars, you couldn’t push this out for us? You couldn’t push it out for these people who are on trash trucks, who are mopping floors, who are picking up biowaste, who are home health aides? We right here on the front line, we need you too. Open up. It is time to wake and recognize us.”

Tony Powell

Hospital administrative coordinator · Age 62

“We are like soldiers marching into battle, but you don’t have enough guns.”

“It’s just overwhelming, the amount that you will go through every day having to be on the front lines. A lot of people can work from home. They don’t understand what it means.

“Nobody recognizes those workers that are really on the front line. People are recognizing doctors and nurses. But they’re not recognizing dietary, environmental service, CNAs. These are the people doing all the main grunt work that has to be done. Nobody is telling them, ‘We appreciate what you do. We realize you have a family. We realize you are underpaid. We realize you are understaffed.

“People are not looking at people like us on the lower end of the spectrum. We’re not even getting respect. That is the biggest thing: we are not even getting respect. Nobody is listening to their voices. Maybe they’ll wake up and see: Oh, these are the people that are actually taking care of the people that need to be taken care of. ”

Hospital housekeeper · Age 29

“One minute you are important enough. The next minute, you aren’t that important to get the proper equipment, but you are important enough to clean for the next patient.”

“We had one patient that we thought had the virus. We asked the charge nurse to send us to get fit-tested for the N95 mask that everyone was wearing. Her response was, ‘No, these are for special people.’ And we were just like, ‘We are here to clean the room and make sure no one else gets the virus, and you are telling us that these are for special people?’

“I’ve been on my unit for seven years. We are on the same unit every day, with the same people. I don’t even think my charge nurse knows my name. They just see us as housekeeping. That is what they call us.

“It shouldn’t take such a trying time for us to get recognized, considering we are the heart of the hospital. We are making sure that family members aren’t coming home with new germs and with new illnesses, because we are keeping the hospital clean. I don’t think it should be like: Oh yeah, let’s recognize them now, because we need them. It’s something that I think should have been going on.”

David Saucedo

Nursing home cook · Age 52

“I am having to argue for my supplies. It makes me feel secondary, not equal. You are expendable in a way.”

“I deal with patients who are not capable of taking care of themselves, that have dementia. I accepted that head-on because I have two handicapped brothers. My heart always goes to people who cannot help themselves. I really care for all my patients.

“Whatever infections they have, it all is going to end up in the kitchen. The Alzheimer’s patients don’t know about ‘six feet, keep your distance.’ They just come up to you, grab you, and sit and talk to you. I need to protect them as much as I need to protect myself. The last thing I want to do is get one of my patients sick or one of my loved ones sick.

“When I was in the Navy, when we went to war, I was getting paid hazardous duty pay. Okay, I signed up to work in a hospital, I knew germs were going to be there. But, had everyone knew coronavirus was going to come, how many people would have decided not to work in a hospital? To me, it is a hazardous job right now. We should be getting paid hazardous pay."

Sabrina Hopps

Acute care facility housekeeping aide · Age 46

“Housekeepers are the number-one hero. If housekeeping does not clean the rooms correctly, the pandemic will be worse than what it is.”

“I clean patient rooms in the ICU department. Those are the sickest people. It scares me because I can be cleaning a patient’s room and the patient can have the coronavirus and I would never know. I have asthma, and my son has asthma. My son is a cancer survivor. I am petrified to not know what is going on or what the patients have.

“I feel we should be getting extra compensation. We are supposed to get a 3% bonus. With my pay, at $14.60 an hour, 3% isn't going to do nothing. If pay was better, I would be able to live on my own and so could my children. What I make, it is not enough. So I am forced to share an apartment with my son and daughter and my granddaughter. Going back and forth to work, I am jeopardizing their lives, their safety, especially my son’s. His immune system is shot, just like mine.

“If I didn’t love what I do, I could have walked away and sat at home, like half the world, and got unemployment. But that’s not me. The patients deserve better. It is me and the other housekeepers who sit and talk with the patients to brighten up their day, because they don’t have family members visiting now. As long as God put me on this earth, I am going to continue to go to work.”

Elizabeth Peachy

Home health aide · Age 49

“It’s not really about the money, because it isn’t enough to live on, to be honest.”

“We do not get any benefits. We are not given any PPE. We’re not given any resources other than an online website. In one day, I was in West Virginia, trying to find PPE. I would be in Augusta, I would be in Wardensville, Baker, and in Moorefield. I would be in Winchester, Virginia, Front Royal, in Stephens City. We have people going in homes, and we get no PPE.

“Without home care workers to care for these high-risk patients, they will become sick even without the COVID-19. We bathe them, we feed them, we clean them. We take them to the doctor appointments, we take them to the hospital, we take them to get blood work. We buy their groceries.

“I can guarantee you, if these workers don’t come out to these homes and they do not provide care to these high-risk patients, they will get sick and thousands will be in the hospital. And they will be flooded with these patients.”

Pauline Moffitt

Home health aide · Age 50

“I pray always: Lord, please stretch my pay. Please. It is a struggle.”

“We do a lot. We do more than even nurses and doctors. We go beyond just cleaning, changing diapers. We are their family. We are their eyes and their ears. You keep them company, you make them laugh, you cheer them up. Sometimes mentally, it is a challenge for us, it breaks us down. At the end of the day, you are tired.

“The work is more than the pay. They cut back my pay to $9 an hour. I spend more than I make. It is a struggle. I live in a low-income home. My husband right now because of the virus is out of a job. I have to pay a lot of bills. What am I supposed to do? I just wish they would raise it and give us a little more. Not just for me, but all the other home health aides that are in the same situation.”

Ditanya Rosebud · Age 46

Nursing home cook and hostess

“I am diabetic, I am asthmatic. I don’t want to bring this home to my kids.”

“I understand we signed up to work in a nursing home. But we didn’t sign up for this pandemic. We wanted to make sure that our residents are well taken care of, well fed, the place is clean and sanitized. We didn’t come in to say: Well today might be your last day.

“We—the CNAs, the GNAs, housekeeping, dietary, laundry—we are right there. Still bringing supplies. Still cleaning. Still cooking. Still interacting with the residents. We come to work on days that we aren’t even scheduled for because we have so many other employees out. And all they can say to us is, ‘This is what you signed up for.’ It is frustrating. I am pissed off.

“Our situation will be better if we can get appreciation. That sounds crazy: appreciation. A thank you. ‘I am glad you are here, thank you for coming to work.’ Hazard pay. Anything. Somebody do something! The company shows no compassion. We are just another body. That’s it. No more, no less. But I continue to go because those residents also need somebody there for them. They can’t see their family members, they can’t go out of their rooms. So we try to find little things to do. I just love the work.”

Amber Stevens

Cashier at Shoppers · Age 30

“It is very tiresome on the body, as well as scary on the mind.”

“We are tired. The past 3 to 4 weeks have been consistent, nonstop people. They haven’t really put a limit on how many people can come in at a time. We don’t have restricted hours. It is worrisome.”

“I come home to my little one. I want to go home and see my mom. You don’t want to pick up anything at work and bring it back to your family. It is very scary.”

Courtney Meadows

Cashier at Kroger · Age 37

“We are no longer being seen as bottom feeders. It’s sad that it took this pandemic for people to see how really valuable we are.”

“I live in the coal fields of West Virginia. If you don’t have a medical degree, a law degree, or you’re a coal miner or something of that nature, then you have minimum wage jobs. People just look down on you, thinking, that that is all that you can get.”

“Now they are seeing, ‘these people are really putting their lives on the line. These people are worth more than what they make. These people are out here and they are serving us and being positive.’ The customers are grateful for it. It makes me proud.”

Jeffrey Reid

Meat clerk at Giant · Age 54

“It’s just the sheer enormity of this pandemic. You can see it in people. You can see fear. You can see pandemonium.”

“Someone will come around the aisle, they have the shopping cart, the gloves on, a mask on. You step back and think, ‘Wow, man, this is really happening.’”

“I am a hard worker. I get up every day, I do my 8 hours, it’s like a routine. Now overnight, I am thrust on the frontlines of this. The governors are saying you are essential personnel, the president is thanking grocery workers. I saw in line this little kid yesterday on National Superhero Day, dressed up as a clerk in one of his favorite grocery chains. I am fascinated and excited by it.”

Lisa Harris

Cashier at Kroger · Age 32

“The pay isn't enough. I have coworkers that serve people every day, and then have to go pay for their own groceries with food stamps.”

“I understand that catching the coronavirus is a very good possibility given I see 300 customers a day. I am grateful for my health care that the union fought for. I pray a lot.”

“I am going to attempt to work through this at risk to myself. A lot of my coworkers are in the same boat because they can't afford to do otherwise. The atmosphere is anxiety ridden, hurried, and on edge. The customers are now saying thank you for your hard work. We would like to hear that from our company.”

Matt Milzman

Cashier at Safeway · Age 29

“Realize that we are just as at risk as anyone who has been designated emergency personnel. I don’t have any special degrees to work grocery, but you have to eat.”

“To be honest with you, I am scared. I’m a religious man. Besides my normal prayers I do every day, I never did much special praying before I went to work. Before every shift, I am doing that now.”

“This is a virus, this isn’t just a slip and fall at work. It is going to hurt my kids, my community. I live in an apartment building. We live on top of each other. This thing spreads like crazy.”

Michelle Lee

Cashier at Safeway · Age 51

“Today I rang up an $800 order. My back was hurting, my arm was hurting. My coworkers are saying their bodies are starting to wear down.”

“We aren’t staying six feet away from the customers. When we ring them up, they are like two feet away from us. We check out 200 customers a day. A doctor can wear a mask and protective gear. We don’t have all of that.”

“My concern is not just for me, but for all of my coworkers. I know a lot of my coworkers have little children. Some of my coworkers have some illnesses that they are fighting. A lot of my coworkers can't afford to be off work for a long period of time.”

We are enormously grateful to each of these workers for sharing their stories and to UFCW Local 400 for their collaboration. We thank Amber, Courtney, Jeffrey, Lisa, Matt and Michelle, and each and every worker on the frontline, for the sacrifices they are making on behalf of all of us.

Photos taken by Molly Kinder: Amber Stevens, Jeffrey Reid, Lisa Harris, Matt Milzman, and Michelle Lee. Photo of Courtney Meadows taken by Mark Covey.

These interviews were conducted by Molly Kinder between March 19, 2020 and April 8, 2020. Participants have provided permission to Brookings to use their names, likenesses, transcribed words, and audio for this series.

We are enormously grateful to each of these workers for sharing their stories, Thanks to PHI, SEIU, SEIU Local 1199, Angelina Drake, Tatia Cooper, Yvonne Slosarski, Leslie Frane and LaNoral Thomas for their collaboration with the worker interviews. We thank Tony, Andrea, Yvette, David, Sabrina, Elizabeth, Pauline, Ditanya, and each and every worker on the front line for the sacrifices they are making on behalf of all of us.

These interviews were conducted between April 1, 2020 and April 28, 2020. Participants have provided permission to Brookings to use their names, likenesses, transcribed words, and audio for this series.

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Home Feature More ways to say thank you to our frontliners

More ways to say thank you to our frontliners

April 21, 2020

Whether they’re health care providers, security guards, food delivery personnel, fast food crew, cleaners, cashiers, grocery store employees, or linemen, this nation’s unsung heroes deserve to be celebrated for their selfless and tireless work.

We think we can only do so much, especially with the ongoing community quarantine, but there is more than one way to honor our frontline workers, regardless of what they do.

Here are five ways to give back to the hardworking men and women on the frontline:

Express your gratitude on social media

With more people going and staying online due to the community quarantine, social media channels have become a place to spread positive energy and thank the frontline workers who choose to serve and help the country run amid these challenging times.

Brands, big and small alike, have taken on this role of showing appreciation through their social channels.

At the beginning of the community quarantine, AboitizPower launched the #PositiveEnergy campaign as a salute to its operations and maintenance team members who are making sure that the country is energized during these challenging times. Through timely thank you notes on its social channels, AboitizPower is able to extend its gratitude to these hardworking individuals.

You don’t have to be a multi-million-peso company to show gratitude or spread #PositiveEnergy, though. A simple post, video message, or even a song rendition can mean a lot to our heroes.

What do you have in mind? We’d love to see it!

Send them food

If you know anyone working as a healthcare provider, you can go out of your way to provide them lunch or have snacks delivered to their workplace. You can also turn the tables on food delivery personnel by buying them meals, which is a feature of some food delivery apps.

After all, food tastes way better when shared.

Help provide PPEs to health care providers

Aside from food, our frontline workers, particularly our health care providers, are in dire need of personal protective equipment. Those with sewing skills and the proper tools and materials helped make improvised masks, doing as much as they could with the few resources they have. Students from various universities also volunteered to build face shields from recycled plastic bottles, showcasing Filipino ingenuity in times of crisis.

But if you don’t have the capacity to procure or produce PPEs such as masks, gloves, and lab gowns, among others, you may opt to donate to campaigns that aim to equip our frontline workers with the necessary gear.

The Aboitiz Foundation started a campaign on its online donation platform Kinder, which aims to help health workers fight COVID-19. The Aboitiz Group’s corporate social responsibility arm partnered with the UP Medical Foundation, TOWNS (The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service) Foundation, and a network of infectious disease specialists in the Philippines to purchase and distribute PPE kits containing masks, gloves, impermeable gowns, face shields, goggles, scrub booties, and other safety gear, estimated to cost P950 per kit, to health care professionals on the frontline.

Over the last month, the campaign has raised more than P1.8 million. For as low as P100, you can help protect lives, enable our health workers to stay healthy so they can care for more people, and eventually slow the rate of COVID-19 infections in the country.

There are many organizations mounting donation campaigns for our frontline workers and the Aboitiz Group is just one of them. Regardless of which institution you choose to give to, it will always be for the benefit of our frontline workers.

Start a fundraising campaign within your immediate circles

If you feel like stepping up and taking matters into your own hands, then starting a fundraising campaign for frontline workers is perfect for you. You don’t have to rally the support of a thousand strangers and aim to raise at least P1 million like most big groups have. Why not start with your immediate contacts -- your friends and family -- instead?

It’s easier to pool resources and ask for help from those who are closest to you. You can tap your village association, call up your high school classmates, or encourage your office friends to pitch in. The Bayanihan spirit can shine through even in the smallest gestures.

Sometimes, it’s the small things that make the biggest difference.

Follow quarantine protocols

“We came to work for you. Please stay home for us.”

You might have seen this quote floating around social media since the health crisis broke out and while some people find this cute, it’s actually a serious plea from our frontline workers.

Staying home may probably sound like the most mundane thing one can do to help our health care workers during this time, but it can have the greatest impact. Staying home limits our contact with others and, thus, helps slow the spread of the virus, which helps medical staff be less overwhelmed.

If we truly want to honor the sacrifice of our frontline workers, we should be serious in following quarantine protocols and guidelines. Washing your hands, disinfecting surfaces, and practicing social distancing can all help prevent the virus from spreading. Let’s all do our part in helping “flatten the curve.”

Saying thank you to our frontline workers doesn’t have to be some grand gesture. Sometimes, these small tokens of appreciation can go a long way. Together, let’s bring #PositiveEnergy to the frontlines.

Can you think of other ways to honor the sacrifice of our unsung heroes? Let us know!

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Heroes: A Letter to Our Frontliners

An appreciation letter to all the Philippine frontliners fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

People often forget, that behind the face mask and underneath the protective equipment, is a father, a mother, a child, a lover, a friend. Ordinary people with mundane problems, dreams, and failures. We often tell ourselves that the frontliners like you, the medical workers, down to the hospital staff, are simply doing your jobs. Except that you’re not. Maybe it’s the guilt and the difficult thought that while we, the non-frontliners, enjoy our family, away from the reach of a raging pandemic, you, in turn, must make some impossible decisions , work under risky and stressful conditions , and will probably come out of this crisis with some moral injury like soldiers who’ve been to war.

When you’re about to step outside your house, how do you tell your kids that “mommy” has to go to work and fight the virus? And when they, with their confused, delicate little faces, ask “do you really need to, mom ?” do you find yourself fumbling for reassuring words? Is there an explanation that would suffice for a lover in the morning? How about your sweet nagging parents? Is there some silver-bullet spiel, some peculiar combination of words, that can be uttered to drain all their worries away?

There isn’t one, is there? Instead, in some cruel twist, often it is yourself who ends up needing the most convincing that all this is the right thing to do. Clutching at words like “duty” and “responsibility” which had empowered you so benevolently in simpler times, but now offer a scant reprieve from all this madness. You had a doubt. You must have? For nobody is born a hero. Circumstances set the stage, but heroism is a difficult choice only trifled with by men and women with immovable resolve.

So, when you finally decided to put yourself and your family at risk, to keep other people’s fathers, mothers, siblings, lovers, friends, and children safe from the virus— it was a profound sacrifice that many people can’t even begin to comprehend.

They say there is one enemy present in any feat of heroism—fear. It is not the extinguishment of fear that makes heroes, but the tenacity to live it and breathe it. But how do you manage this? To you, our medical workers, volunteers, and hospital staff, where do you get the uncanny calmness to tuck fear in at night only to greet it again, bright-eyed, in the morning? How do you stare this great bully in the face and say, “not today!” Every patient you treat, every hour that alternates between frantic and plodding, the intense pressure— we are so undeserving, but thankful that you are made of sterner stuff and holding the world together as we know it.

But in your moment of weakness, in the lull after a particularly crazy day; and it feels like a watershed is about to break, we hope you have someone too. Heroes need saving too, after all, don't they? A father, a mother, a child, a lover, or a friend-- we hope you get the strength that you need from them to keep going. And for what it's worth, we're rooting for you too.

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Your perseverance as hope: A thank you to the frontliners in the fight against COVID-19

When I think about the situation right now, it almost feels unreal, like it’s a story being told from a history book or a plot of some twisted movie. Yet, outside my window is stillness and silence. People are afraid to step outside and online, there’s a rampage of breaking news on developments of the virus, what the government has done, and how the people are dealing with it. It’s an absolute chaos of a time, but as some cower in their homes and spread anger at those who are not staying at home, there’s you, the frontliners of society, who have chosen to brave the present outbreak.

This is a note of gratitude towards your sacrifices. Without your perseverance, everybody’s safety would be in danger.

To the employees working in groceries and drugstores, drivers, delivery men, and street vendors, we thank you for helping us despite the exposure to the virus. We know that during these trying times, the need for a daily wage persists and we apologize that you have to come to these terms. We apologize for the government, for all the people who have not seen the difficulties you experience every day in the fight not against the virus, but against poverty. Your perseverance strengthens our voice to call out the government for a more just and equal system.

And at the front of the outbreak stands the medical and health care practitioners who are most susceptible to the virus, yet have chosen to continue treating the sick. Being in the medical field truly requires something more than intelligence, it requires kindness and selflessness the most. 

To the scientists, chemists and designers like Raul Destura and his team for creating the COVID-19 test kits along with the University of the Philippines students who are in the process of building a quarantine tent, your quick response and selfless intuition is a sign for us to believe in the strength and mind of the Filipino. Because of you, we are given a spark of encouragement to use our roles in society to combat the virus.

To the doctors and nurses who risk their safety in order to secure the safety of others and to the medical interns who chose to stay despite being given the chance to stay at home, your perseverance is what gives us hope that the day will come when the sick will come back home, when the roads will be safe again, and when people can roam freely without fear. Through your sacrifice, lives have been saved and given hope.

It is in these dark moments that we remember who we turn to when society needs it the most. For doctors and nurses, the virus is not the first of your sacrifices. Before the outbreak, you have always been faced with sick people, always at the risk of contamination. This sense of selflessness is natural to all of you. It is not merely a job requirement, it is a moral responsibility that you have willingly accepted. The strength and courage in that is one worthy of heroes.

…it is a moral responsibility that you have willingly accepted. The strength and courage in that is one worthy of heroes.

Now as you continue on with another day, we hope that more aid will come to your hands, that the government will listen and provide you with the necessary budget, equipment, and precautions. We hope that more of those who are capable can give you a lending hand and provide food and supplies for you. We hope that you come home to your families unafraid of hugging and holding their hands as well. 

To the frontlines in the fight against COVID-19, one thing is for certain: when this virus ends, you will stand at the frontline of success, at the frontline of being the country’s saving grace. 

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Reflections from Frontline Heroes

At this unprecedented time of challenge and crisis in healthcare, we recognize all our members and other healthcare professionals serving on the frontlines of the pandemic, for their immense sacrifice and undaunted dedication. We thank you for your good clinical judgment, and your consistent prioritization of patient health and safety above other concerns.

The following are reflections from a few of our frontline heroes on their experience, and specifically—knowing that the next pandemic is a matter of “when” rather than “if”—what lessons they’ve learned during the pandemic that they will carry forward.

As an emergency-medicine physician working through the COVID-19 pandemic, I more fully value the outstanding cooperative spirit of our frontline medical providers. Nurses, doctors, paramedics, and techs work extra shifts, providing direct care in stifling masks, gowns, and respirator hoods. The local and national hospital administrators apply lessons learned in the hot zones of infection to rapidly create new isolated treatment zones and care protocols. I am equally aware how much better our healthcare in the United States could be if our country embraced world-class excellence in medical care. Even with dedicated physicians, abundant financial resources, and the most advanced medical technology, the U.S. has underperformed most nations in our response to COVID-19, with more cases and deaths than any other nation. To be prepared for the next pandemic, the United States needs universal healthcare, accessible to all Americans, and national leadership that respects, understands, and supports the medical sciences.

I never thought that I would be qualified for emergency nursing. Then I realized that it was not my clinical understanding or experience that prepared me for the emergency room, but my heart. I knew I would likely encounter great tragedy and uncertainty on the frontlines of healthcare, but I was all in. I am here for one thing—to help. I prepared with our Highly Infectious Treatment Team here at Providence Alaska Medical Center knowing that the next pandemic, breakout, or mass-casualty incident was right around the corner. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I knew that the key was constant readiness and confidence in my ability to serve. My training gave me the confidence to address the many changes that came our way. For future pandemics or surges, our greatest challenge may be addressing the fear and uncertainty that COVID-19 has created in patients, families, and healthcare workers.

As a regional treatment center for emerging special pathogens, we conduct quarterly training exercises. We saw the results of this training in our preparation for COVID-19. Understanding surge planning, PPE donning and doffing, and clinical workflows for a respiratory pathogen was extremely valuable in our response and allowed us to adjust our plan as needed, based on the specifics of the COVID-19 pandemic. Knowing the value of that training and translating it into a state of preparedness will shape our approach moving forward. It has been a privilege to take part in the interdisciplinary teamwork and commitment that has been so evident in our COVID unit. Watching some of our patients walk out of the hospital and be reunited with their families, knowing how ill they were, has been highly rewarding and a tribute to the sacrifice and commitment of our amazing team.

I work for Oregon Anesthesiology Group (OAG) and serve on one of Legacy Health’s Critical Care and ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) teams. ECMO is an external heart-lung bypass machine for people who are likely to die even on conventional life-support systems, such as mechanical ventilators, and provides a last-line form of therapy. During this pandemic, I’ve traveled to hospitals in a multistate area to care for COVID-19 patients as young as 19 and as old as 61, many of whom have come off ECMO and are on the path to recovery. From top to bottom, Legacy’s clinical staff, nonclinical staff, and leadership, as well as my colleagues at OAG, have been incredibly brave. They choose to show up at work every day, knowing they’re risking their own health and that of their families, to take care of patients with COVID-19. But this has been hardest for the patients’ families, with visitation severely restricted. Still, in the hardest of times, the families I’ve worked with have responded with understanding and compassion.

My biggest lesson has been the importance of preparedness and planning for pandemics ahead of time so that we’re not creating protocols from scratch. If there is a bright spot to come out of this, it’s that we are now better prepared to handle surges, and have plans in place for future pandemics or any new COVID-19 surges we may experience this fall and winter. Throughout this experience I’ve been impressed with the whole healthcare system, from the people who clean the rooms to the hospital administrators. Everyone has put in extraordinary effort; it’s very heartening to see people put themselves on the line in order to care for patients. Until something like this happens, you don’t really know how the system will react, and the response of our healthcare teams has been remarkable to see.

25 Messages to Say Thanks to Frontline Workers

What do you say to thank a frontline worker, to lift their spirits or let them know that you value their support? Uplifting messages can go a long way to letting someone know that you care, but there are even more powerful long-lasting benefits to sending a message to a frontline worker.

Who Are Our Frontline Workers?

Frontline workers are those who support us in our communities, providing services that are most needed.

Frontline workers may include:

• Health care workers
• Social workers
• Grocery store workers
• Retail employees
• Restaurant staff
• Truck drivers and delivery services
• Postal workers
• Firefighters, police officers and other first responders
• Housekeeping staff
• Utility workers

What to Say to a Frontline Worker

Here are some ready-made messages you can use to uplift a frontline worker. They are sure to appreciate the support.

• Thank you…we appreciate all you do. ❤
• Sending thanks and warm thoughts to all of you who are working through these challenging times.
• Thank you for giving your strength to so many.
• I am thankful for your commitment to caring for our community!
• Your dedication and skill are making a difference.
• We are here for you!!! Thanks for being there for us.
• We are so grateful for your support.
• We are very lucky to have you, and we know it.
• Thank you so much for what you are doing for our world.
• You are truly a hero. Thank you.
• You show us that we are all in this together.
• Every day you make a commitment to serve. Thank you.
• You are one of the best and the bravest.
• Your selfless service to the greater community is helping us all get through these tough times.
• Your tireless efforts are not going unnoticed. Thank you. ❤
• You have my support and heartfelt appreciation for all you do.
• We are deeply grateful to you for all the sacrifices that you and your family are making.
• Words are not enough to thank you for your strength, courage and dedication.
• Being on the frontline isn’t easy, but it is very much appreciated.
• Stay safe. I’m rooting for you.
• You deserve our applause, our thanks and our respect.
• You are making a bigger impact than you realize.
• Our community is better because you are a part of it.
• Thank you for everything you are doing to help us all.
• We depend on your strength and can never thank you enough.
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Thank You! Your ‘Messages of Gratitude' for Frontline Heroes

Published april 21, 2020 • updated on july 23, 2020 at 3:03 pm.

While the coronavirus pandemic has upended life for nearly everyone, healthcare workers, first responders and other essential workers have had to face more risks than most. NBC 6 would like to join the local South Florida community in thanking those who are providing essential services during this time. 

These are your messages of gratitude for South Florida's frontline heroes:

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United Way Blog

8 ways to thank frontline workers.

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Tolli Love May 4 2020

Nurses. Doctors. Grocery store employees. Delivery drivers. Warehouse workers. First responders. 211 operators. Food bank volunteers. There are so many people who are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak. They continue to help keep our community safe and the world running. 

Join United Way as we say thank you to the essential workers who have tirelessly and bravely continued to do their jobs. 

Let’s show the world that we are all united in support of our frontline workers! 

8 Ways to Say Thank You  There are many ways to say thank you. Here are just a couple of our ideas for what you can do on May 5: 

1. Make a sign for your window or front yard  Make someone’s commute to work brighter by posting a sign in your window or front yard telling frontline workers how much they mean to our community. This is a great project for kids! 

2. Be kind  Essential workers who are keeping grocery, convenience and pharmacy stores open see large groups of people every day. When you must shop at one of these stores, be respectful of the people working there. Tell them thank you, wear a protective mask, keep your distance from employees and be kind to team members and other customers. These small acts can help workers feel appreciated and safer at their jobs. 

3. Share a message on social media  As we all keep our physical distance, connecting online has become even more important. Using social media is a great way to thank frontline workers. You can tag people you know or send a general message using the hashtags #InThisTogether, #COVIDHeroes or #GivingTuesdayNow. On May 5, you can also reshare posts from our Facebook , Twitter , Instagram or LinkedIn channels. 

4. Run errands or make a meal for the frontline workers in your area  Even if you don’t personally know someone who is working on the frontlines, there are ways to help. Start by checking your neighborhood Facebook or Next Doors pages and offering assistance, or get in contact with your local community centers. By finding out the needs of individual frontline workers in your area, you can help by doing whatever will be most impactful—perhaps picking up the extra supplies they need at the grocery store, or dropping off a meal for them to express your appreciation. Many national and local businesses are delivering meals to support frontline workers, so that may also be an option in your area.  

5. Email Congress   Show frontline workers you appreciate their work by helping them get the support they need. During this time of uncertainty and economic crisis, many people, including those still working, need a boost to make ends meet. Vital services like 211, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) can provide relief for frontline workers–and others–in need. You can ask your representative to increase funding for these services. Use this form to  email your member of Congress . 

6. Join a daily salute Across the world, many communities are now doing a daily salute to frontline workers by lighting candles, applauding, cheering or sounding horns at a certain time of day. Check neighborhood Facebook groups, posts on Next Door and local newspapers to find one that is happening in your neighborhood.  

7. Pledge your support to organizations responding to the COVID-19 crisis  United Way is working across the globe to help the people impacted most by COVID-19. Frontline workers are often part of the populations that nonprofits serve in times of crisis. They may be the very people who need help with rent or utilities or access to healthy food and affordable medication. A donation to  our COVID-19 Fund  allows us reach more people and help them stay in their homes, stock their pantries, and protect their lives and livelihoods during this time of crisis. 

8. Stay at home The most important thing you can do to thank frontline workers is to stay home. When we all stay home, we limit the spread of COVID-19. So, limit outings to essential trips to the grocery store, medical appointments, picking up prescriptions, walking pets and helping the vulnerable. When outside, use social distancing to stay at least six feet away from others and wear a mask when appropriate.  

Inspired by what you read? Change starts with you. Take action today to make a difference in your community.

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