Corona Virus Epidemic from an Emergency Doctor's Perspective

Join The Gist of Freedom ~Corona Virus Epidemic from an Emergency Doctor's Perspective | Dr. Ishmael Griffin, a Harvard Educated, Board Certified Emergency Physician, has practiced over 20 years in level 1 and 2 emergency departments. Currently works in NYC. Dr. Griffin was also led  a delegation of Pre-Med Students to study in Cuba for nearly two decades.  You can listen to The Gist of Freedom at www.BlackhistoryUniversity.com

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This show is in honor of: The Black Nurses and the 1793 Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic

In 1793, Philadelphia was as large and as cosmopolitan a city as could be found in the new United States. Until 1800, Philadelphia served as the U.S. capitol. The city was also home to a substantial number of people of color. The yellow fever outbreak that began that summer led to an outcry for help to the Black Benevolent Societies..

As the disease spread, so too did panic. Some 20,000 residents fled the city. With the exodus  care for the sick  was limited. In desperation, civic leaders — including Declaration of Independence signatory Benjamin Rush, M.D., then a professor at the Institutes of Medicine — approached the city’s black community for help. 

The leaders of Philadelphia’s Free African Society, a mutual aid organization founded in 1787 by ministers Absalom Jones and Richard Allen agreed to provide that help. They too had some medical training, and played an active role. They cared for “upwards of 800 people.”

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Image: Black Cross Nurses 1920