Emergency Medicine Physician, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Main Line Health, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
“The pandemic is a different reality for sure. The saddest thing is how sick the patients
are. They come into the emergency room, one after another after another. They can’t
breathe. They are drowning in their own fluids. This virus is so virulent. It aggressively
attacks the lungs and causes respiratory distress. It’s scary how some patients are
overcome with a hunger for air. … The first woman I intubated was very sick. I helped
her call her husband; I wasn’t sure she was going to survive. It could have been her
last chance to say goodbye, I love you. … Overall, we are seeing fewer patients in
the ER because people aren’t coming in with the ordinary scrapes and bruises that
weekend warriors experience. There are fewer fender benders too. … As a healthcare
practitioner, you have to be on your game. The mental stress is definitely trying.
Every day—or even twice a day—a new protocol comes out about how we should treat patients
with the coronavirus. The procedures keep changing. What’s the appropriate PPE? Are
we intubating too early? Are we trying to avoid intubation? We are learning on the
fly how to attack this virus. I’ve been reading research nonstop to stay one step
ahead. … In March, my colleagues and I in the emergency room were doing the intubations.
As ER docs, we take pride in our expertise in protecting airways on a regular basis.
Then we realized how important it was to keep our frontline people safe, so we created
a COVID-19 intubation team with anesthetists and nurse anesthetists who put on Power
Air Purifying suits to do so. … Like many spouses of frontline providers, my wife
is scared I’m going to get sick—or worse. I contemplated moving to my parents’ place
in Ambler while they are wintering in Florida. I’m afraid that I might infect my wife
and daughters, but I’ve been very careful. I take my shoes off in the garage, then
strip down. I shower immediately. I social distance at dinner, around the house. It’s
sad not to hug and kiss my kids. I hope I’ve developed some degree of immunity. If
I were to get sick, I’d find alternate housing. For now, I’m trying to be as ‘normal’
as possible—during an abnormal time.”
As told to Janice Fisher
April 11, 2020
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