Let’s face it: The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging humanity in a way the world hasn’t seen in a century. The seriousness of taking necessary precautions seriously cannot be overstated.
While no one wants to spend weeks mostly in their homes practicing social distancing, it’s a necessary step to flattening the curve and saving lives.
Many businesses, including Sphera, have moved to a work-from-home model to ensure people are safe and not risking catching or spreading the virus by coming into the office. Of course, not every business can function that way. You can’t “beam up” a burger via a transporter the way Scotty did the crew in “Star Trek.” So many workers, including health care workers, still go into work every day to help people.
At the same time, scientists, governments, businesses, not-for-profits and more are working tirelessly to create new technology and innovations that can be used to help people and hopefully come up with a vaccine or antiviral that is tested and safe for people as quickly as possible.
The race is on.
In the newest Spark, we present “The Virus and the Vision” Special Report, which features many compelling technologies that are already being developed or have been developed in a very short period of time to help with COVID-19. Spark talked to a professor in England who uses virtual reality to help create antivirals, another researcher in Australia who uses a superfast computer to help create vaccines, an innovator in Ireland who is working on an open source ventilator project to help meet the needs of patients who need the breathing devices to survive, and more.
There’s a lot going on and one thing is for certain: There’s no way one magazine article can cover it all. Developments happen on a daily basis, so the level of innovation related to combating COVID-19 will continue for the foreseeable future. We will keep our eyes on it. For updates, bookmark Sphera’s COVID-19 coverage webpage.
The Pitcher’s Pitch
Spark also caught up with former Major League Baseball pitcher Bobby Jenks. Jenks was an All-Star closer, who pitched for the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox from 2005 to 2011. His days as a pitcher were cut short when a “botched” back surgery, as he explains, cost him his career—and almost his life.
Nine years after that horrific experience, Jenks finally talks about what he went through during a concurrent surgery. He now advocates for informed consent before a surgeon performs concurrent surgery, which means operating on two patients simultaneously.
What Else?
In the new Spark, we also review the Academy Award-winning film “1917” and have lots of great insights around Environmental Health, Safety & Sustainability, Operational Risk Management and Product Stewardship.
Check out the new Spark today, and, as always, let us know what you think by emailing us at spark@sphera.com. And read the digital magazine on issuu.
Stay safe, everyone. We will get through this together.
