THE HAMILTON MINUTE

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Engineers and the Unknown—handling the Corona virus

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

 

                                                      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a well known fact that engineers like to plan and problem-solve and know the answers to all questions.  We can be annoying because of these traits (talk to my children!) but they make us a great asset to a team in an emergency or for disaster relief. 

What happens when engineers are faced with an unknown situation like the Corona virus?

Nothing!  We kick into our standard engineer mode but we don’t panic. We research, evaluate options and devise an action plan.  Most importantly, we check facts and identify the source of the most accurate information available.

Howard’s and my church, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, has summarized our approach to this challenging situation with the following guidance:

• We respect our local and national government authorities
• We are good neighbors
• We monitor the situation, which is changing rapidly

The best website we have found for straightforward, helpful information and updates to accomplish this three-fold response to the Corona virus is the CDC website as recommended by the President of the United States and his team:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Our research tells us the CDC is THE expert for this situation, giving guidance for protecting yourself, how to get help if you think you are sick, how to protect others and up-to-date resources for navigating life for the next several weeks.

Our firm is still working, but we are allowing our team to work from home,  upholding the President’s “15 Days to Slow the Spread” directive. 

We are supporting each other, our families and neighbors, and local small businesses. 

We send our sincere appreciation to all the Americans working in the healthcare, first response, retail and trucking/logistics industries who aren’t staying home – thank you so much for your service!

And a special acknowledgement to our IT services provider Netsphere Technologies, and our in-house IT specialist David Stroh for their amazing foresight and support – HCE is ahead of the curve for remote access.

What a blessing to live in this great country and watch history being made with the collaborative response to the virus.  God bless us every one!

Kristen

Kristen Hamilton is the CEO/Chairman of Hamilton Consulting Engineers, Inc.