Faces of Labor: Q&A with Essential Workers of the SFV
Words & Photos by Joshua Pacheco
Two questions asked to each worker: What has been the biggest positive to your new work style and environment after the pandemic?
What weakness or weaknesses were exposed in your old work environment, prior to the pandemic?
Andrea Leonor
4th grade teacher in Sylmar
One weakness that was exposed is the lack of support for English Learners. I speak Spanish and I’m able to communicate with my students but others aren’t so fortunate. Even for me it can be so difficult because there’s not enough time in the day.
A positive is that for once teachers have a voice. Usually it’s hard for us to speak up and now we have no choice. Whether it’s advocating for ourselves or our students. I don’t work for LAUSD, I work at a charter and one thing that’s been important is that we’ve been part of a lot of the processes during the transition.
One weakness that was exposed is how hands-on my product is. It’s an actual step by step process I go through during production and working with other small businesses to get the product made. This has also been a staple in the brand so the products aren’t mass ordered and given out. Every piece has been worked on individually which only became stressful once Covid limited our access to resources.
I think my best outcome is that no matter what may happen on the outside world, I now know I will still be able to get things done for my brand. If things got so bad that I wouldn't be able to buy products for my clothing line I would still find a way. I’m an artist, I honestly can learn and teach myself if circumstances really called for that, it wouldn’t take away from the meaning and concept behind the brand.
Daniel Medina
EMT from the San Fernando Valley
The weaknesses exposed were the fact that we didn’t have enough PPE to begin with. I think aside from the EMTs being dismissive about PPE in the field, some owners, supervisors, people in charge per say, were also dismissive about PPE. In my case and others I heard from, they didn’t care to have extra in stock. When the pandemic hit all hell broke loose. We were finding ourselves basically having to steal PPE from hospitals most of the time. These things would have been preventable if we had real plans in play in our facilities.
The biggest positive I would have to say is the fact that everyone is taking PPE a lot more seriously in and out of the EMS world. Before it was a little more inconsistent. We weren’t always sure if we should wear PPE in certain situations, some EMTs were pretty dismissive on PPE aside from wearing gloves. Because of the pandemic and its seriousness it’s a lot easier for us to make the right choice and we definitely don’t think twice about it.
Kevin Hinojosa
Emergency Department Clinical Partner from Granada Hills
Weaknesses that were exposed in my work environment. First off the limited amount of PPE we had. This was not by any means it’s the fault of the institution where I work, but the whole nation in the lack of preparation of what was coming. At one point we ran out of simple masks, N95s, and no face shields. Staff and myself were buying our own PPE from online or wherever we could find any. We had no certain section organized for COVID patients. They tried setting up a tent outside to treat the high volumes coming in, but were not successful. Was chaotic the first few months. Things are still intense, but through trial and error have been successful in maintaining PPE and an organized placement of COVID-19 patients in our Emergency Department.
The biggest positive impact COVID-19 has brought upon my work environment, would be the improvement & installation of negative pressured patient rooms. We had a whole section in our Emergency Department with 10+ rooms remodeled with state-approved negative pressure. As we understand COVID-19 can be spread through aerosols, therefore these rooms are being used to treat our COVID-19 patients. Thus far they have been efficient in helping keep us as staff safe and reduce the exposure of the virus to any other of the patients.
Joshua Pacheco is a photographer working in the greater Los Angeles area. With a background in photojournalism, his interests lie in capturing live events and telling stories within different communities. Loving a creative environment that allows him to learn and teach is what he enjoys most about photography. Apart from freelance work, he plans to continue his personal projects.