April 28, 2020 — The key to figuring out how to safely lift shelter in place restrictions and re-open the economy, recreation, and something like normal life is in testing as many people as possible. In the US, where swabs and personal protective equipment are in short supply, that simple strategy is not always feasible. But on April 22nd, in Fort Bragg, the city and the county joined the two-year-old coastal street medicine program to test 120 people in two rounds of targeted testing.
Faith Simon is a nurse practitioner and clinical director of the coastal street medicine program, which is a collaborative effort between Adventist Health, the Mendocino Coast Clinics, and the Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center.
She spoke with KZYX over the weekend about what street medicine is, and what role her six-person team played in the latest round of large-scale testing.