Opinion: Being an ER doctor as our country braces for the impact of Covid-19 feels like standing on the shore and watching a tsunami approach
RICHMOND, Va.—
I work nights in a small community emergency department, and as the only physician in the entire hospital, it’s up to me to handle whatever comes through the door. I’m scared. And the reason isn’t just this disease, it’s the equipment we need—and don’t have—to fight this fight. This week, we received the same warning that emergency department teams everywhere are hearing: Once this disease arrives in force,Simons shows the difference between a surgical face mask, left, and a more protective N95 mask, right. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO
I’ve seen the pictures of Chinese health care workers in protective ensembles that are far more elaborate than anything I have available. I’ve read thestudy that detected coronavirus in aerosols for up to three hours, and I know I really need to be wearing an N95 mask,just a surgical mask, to protect me from aerosolized spread.
A colleague recently saw a patient triaged as “headache.” Only after he got close enough to put a stethoscope on her chest did she divulge that it was sinus pressure accompanied by fevers, cough and exposure to a family member who recently returned from Europe. We need enough PPE to wear a mask withSecondly, real life in the ER is nowhere near as neat and clear as the algorithms our public health officials are creating.
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