“There’s a unique horror in sitting back and watching the rest of the world struggle and not knowing if we will be next.”
When I work an overnight shift in the ER, my body temperature always drops around 4 a.m., an oddity I thought I’d gotten used to. These days, though, it’s taken on a sinister quality—the slightest chill could be the harbinger of a coronavirus-induced fever. I cough into my mask and hope it’s just my allergies. Unlike ER doctors in New York and New Orleans, we have the time to indulge in hypochondria, because things are slow here in central Virginia, at least right now.
The slowness is difficult. Everywhere in the country, the regular patients, the bread and butter of emergency medicine—heart attacks, appendicitis, alcoholic pancreatitis, drug overdoses—are not coming to the hospital. We are not used to sitting around with nothing to do; it’s even harder to do that when we know that just a six-hour drive from us, ER hallways are full of COVID patients, and we realize these might be the good times for us.
I decide I won’t be much good to anyone else in a constant state of anxiety, so I make a phone appointment with a friend’s therapist. But I find myself editing what I tell him. I don’t want to make things worse for him, by coming to him as an “expert” with my fears. Besides, isn’t anxiety the only rational response to this? I’ve said as much to a patient having a panic attack over the state of the world.
In person, my residents are nonchalant. We joke and laugh at work. When they have real concerns, they tend to ask me in writing—by text, over email. My own concern is what will become of their education. Residency is an apprenticeship. They learn by doing, but we are not doing much of anything. I haven’t reduced a fracture, sutured a laceration, or diagnosed a heart attack in weeks. In the absence of treatment, we turn to preventive care.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
Greece opening to tourists in July but hoteliers fear empty beachesGreece hopes to welcome back tourists from July, but hoteliers expect a bleak season, fearing the coronavirus pandemic will keep visitors away and beaches empty.
Consulte Mais informação »
Italy Considers Permits For Undocumented Migrants To Fill A Big Farmworker GapThe country faces a shortfall of up to 350,000 laborers just when it is bracing for deep economic impacts from the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Consulte Mais informação »
Dr. Fauci: 'Inevitable' that coronavirus returns next seasonWATCH: Dr. Fauci says 'it’s inevitable' that the coronavirus will return next season. 'When it does, how we handle it, will determine our fate.'
Consulte Mais informação »
Russia reports record daily rises in new coronavirus cases and deathsThe number of new coronavirus cases in Russia climbed on Tuesday to 6,411, a record daily rise, bringing its nationwide tally to 93,558, the country's coronavirus crisis response centre said.
Consulte Mais informação »
Dr. Deborah Birx says everyone needs to wear a mask at social gatheringsThe White House coronavirus response coordinator also said ventilator and coronavirus test production would need to 'accelerate' before the fall.
Consulte Mais informação »
The coronavirus enemy remained 'invisible' because the Trump administration didn't make the effort to see itDespite the concerns shared by many on his own coronavirus task force, President Trump has routinely misrepresented the nation’s capacity to test people for the coronavirus.
Consulte Mais informação »