You’re a hero when you wear a face mask, practice social distancing and follow other guidelines to keep us all safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doing the right thing during the health crisis makes us all heroes, said Dr. Bernard Heilicser, the emergency medical system director of South Cook County EMS for the last 36 years.
Heilicser, the person most responsible for training two generations of EMTs and other first responders during his tenure, has spent his career in emergency medicine. He says all of us have the opportunity to be brave, act responsibly and help protect our neighbors.
“We are hearing a great deal these days about how our first responders are heroes,” he says. The truth is, everyone who is doing what is right and safe is a hero.
“By doing the right thing, people are helping the first responders and people working in hospitals by not jeopardizing the safety of the community.”
Heilicser, a Flossmoor resident, took issue with people who point to personal freedom as reason not to wear masks, maintain proper distance or otherwise follow the advice of medical professionals during the pandemic. That type behavior will only lead to more people getting sick and endangering the population, he said.
“Let me make a military analogy” he said. “In a war, we do not allow weapons or aid to go the enemy. “If you ignore the warnings and don’t follow the guidelines, you are allowing COVD-19 to advance. This is not a matter of independence because if you act that way, you endanger the independence of others, including the people you love.
“It’s like giving weapons to the enemy.”
COVID-19 will be defeated by “following the science,” Heilicser said. Defeating the virus will take time and involve personal sacrifice but it will ultimately happen.
“Look, I can’t hug my granddaughter and that’s hard for me,” he said. “That’s a sacrifice. We’re all making sacrifices but that’s the right thing to do.”
The front line of troops battling the virus – emergency and medical personnel – are “doing really well,” Heilicser said.
“They are working hard to save peoples’ lives, and they are doing it with compassion.”
Heilicser said the paramedics he’s helped train “are doing precisely what they are supposed to do.”
“It’s very inspiring how well they do it, and without complaint,” he said. “They are taking risks. They’re doing it because it’s their calling. We are very fortunate that those folks are out there.”
Heilicser remains an emergency room doctor in the UCMedicine/Ingalls Memorial health system. During the pandemic, he said, it’s clear that some people are reluctant to go to ER facilities during medical emergencies.
“That can’t be good,” he said. “People are still going to get sick for reasons that have nothing to do with COVID-19 and they should not be afraid to go to the hospital. If someone is having a stroke, or heart attack or appendicitis, they should get treated for it.”
Every hospital in the South Suburbs is working hard to assure that every patient receives the proper care and that staff members are also protected, he said.
“We are all taking the appropriate measures that are in place to make you safe,” Heilicser said.