The young children of today will one day be school-aged children who learn about COVID-19 and how it reshaped the world in 2020.
Justin Grimm is proud to know that his 14-month-old son Atlas will see that his parents did their part to make the world safer during the pandemic. Grimm is a security guard at the Special Commitment Center and his wife Ranae is a nurse at Madigan Army Medical Center. Both are on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19.
“When he gets bigger he’ll be able to see what his mom and dad were doing to make this better during this time,” Grimm said.
Grimm has been an SCC security guard for nearly 15 years and volunteers as an EMT for the McNeill Island Fire Department. He is assigned to the transport unit to take residents to and from medical appointments off site, but with much of the state in lockdown and travel limited, he has worked in the screening trailer before employees and visitors can get ferried to the facility.
“It’s a huge undertaking to keep this virus out of our facility,” Grimm said.
Screening for the disease involves interviewing people and taking their temperature. That puts Grimm within the recommended 6 feet for social distancing with dozens of people each day, but he is comfortable with the risk.
“I know that the work that we’re doing is making a difference,” he said. “People have expressed gratitude to me for the work that I’m doing to make sure people are safe.”
SCC Deputy CEO Shawn Candella said Grimm has made the screening process smooth and easy for everyone headed to the island.
“He has performed at a high level and displays the utmost professionalism when working with his fellow staff members,” Candella said. “He makes the new screening process seem like we have being doing this all along.”
Working through the epidemic has been a challenge, but Grimm said the leadership and unity of everyone who works at the facility has been inspiring.
“During this incident I’ve really seen real leaders come into the fold,” he said. “Everybody has been pitching in. It’s been nice to see during this crisis people go the extra mile to really make it work.
“It’s really refreshing to see and refocuses what we’re doing.”
(Story by Rob Johnson)