When the call for volunteer tracers went out to UCF students over the summer, Anthony DePaz knew he wanted to be involved. In the past year, someone very close to him had become ill from the virus, and he wanted to help others who had been affected by the pandemic.
Since the spring, UCF has worked with the Florida Department of Health in Orange County to conduct contact tracing in COVID-19 cases with links to the campus community.
It soon became clear there was a need for more contact tracing. Over the summer, a call went out to UCF undergrad students in health-related programs inviting them to become registered volunteer contact tracers.
More than 700 students applied for the unpaid positions, says Jascinth Lindo, associate professor of nursing who helped coordinate the effort to recruit UCF student volunteers. 麻豆精品 S淲e were not surprised that so many Knights were interested in helping their fellow Knights during this challenging time. 麻豆精品 S�
The six students 麻豆精品 S� DePaz, Hannah Arias, Sarahi Monsalve, Xuxa Major, Desiree Rivera and Alex Zamora 麻豆精品 S� applied and became registered volunteer contact tracers to amplify UCF efforts to stop the spread of the disease.
The students received training from the DOH regarding contact tracing processes, privacy and confidentiality protocols, and also had to pass a background check before they could begin talking to patients, who are not just UCF employees and students, but a broad range of individuals who live within the UCF area. Each student committed to volunteering 10 hours a week conducting contact tracing.
When the Orange County Health Department receives notification of a positive test in the UCF area, the information is uploaded onto a database from which DePaz and the other student tracers are then assigned patients.
When Xuxa Major calls patients to tell them they have tested positive for COVID-19, she anticipates their reaction.
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Receiving a phone call from one of the contact tracers is not the only way someone is notified, but it could be the most important way, Major says. 麻豆精品 S淭hey are also emailed, but students never check their email, 麻豆精品 S� she says with a laugh.
Major was inspired to become a contact tracer because she knows the impact of large-scale devastation. She experienced the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, her childhood home, which resulted in an estimated 250,000 deaths.
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As a result of her experiences with devastation and loss, Major says she tries to approach each patient on her list with compassion and understanding.
Often, after the initial shock of learning they have tested positive for the virus, her patients express regret and guilt when remembering places where they may have encountered someone who had the disease, or for spreading it to others before finding out they were positive.
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The student tracers then reach out to the people with whom the patient may have had contact with, and they inform them of what to expect and what precautions to take.
When Major talks to patients, sometimes they are asymptomatic. Other times, they are already feeling sick. Her role is not to provide medical advice, but to direct them to various services available to students on campus, which include things like Wellness Meal Plans, a three-meal a day plan for students who have already purchased a meal plan, and counseling services from .
Rivera, who is also a student volunteer contact tracer, echoed some of Major 麻豆精品 S檚 sentiments.
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Rivera, a communication sciences and disorders student, has spoken with patients of all ages and all walks of life. She sees the experience as beneficial to her future career as a speech-language pathologist. Some of her clients may include survivors of COVID-19, who can face challenges with breathing, speaking and swallowing after ventilator use, and her clinical training will help play a role in their physical recovery.
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