An old friend of mine is a doctor in the Midwest. She also heads up her county’s board of health.
Tonight, she met for 2 hours with colleagues at the local hospital to discuss contingencies as the #COVIDー19 pandemic escalates.
What she described knocked the wind out of me:
Tonight, she met for 2 hours with colleagues at the local hospital to discuss contingencies as the #COVIDー19 pandemic escalates.
What she described knocked the wind out of me:
“Imagine 6 women, most of them moms, sitting around a table. One nursing a baby. All healthcare providers, making plans. Setting fear aside."
"We discussed things like what do we do when we we run out of hospital beds? Where can we put patients?"
"We discussed things like what do we do when we we run out of hospital beds? Where can we put patients?"
"How do we have enough morphine so that when people are dying and we can't do anything for them, we can at least make them comfortable? How do we make an objective decision on who gets a ventilator and who doesn't, knowing we have only two?"
"Do we keep one physician out of the rotation of sick people so we don't leave people stranded when all of us get sick, too?"
I didn’t know what to say. I’ve been following this all so closely, especially what’s coming out of Italy, knowing we’re 10 days or so behind them...
I didn’t know what to say. I’ve been following this all so closely, especially what’s coming out of Italy, knowing we’re 10 days or so behind them...
... and that we missed our window to have an outcome like South Korea. And still, none of it hit me like what she relayed personally.
I told her I hoped she'd share this broadly. People need to know what’s coming.
She said she couldn’t. “I’ve been told I can’t speak out much.”
I told her I hoped she'd share this broadly. People need to know what’s coming.
She said she couldn’t. “I’ve been told I can’t speak out much.”
She agreed to let me share it anonymously. Suggested I edit the bit about the ventilators to say “we don’t have many” rather than “we only have two.”
Why, I asked?
“Because it might seem far-fetched for people who don’t understand rural hospitals," she said.
Think about that.
Why, I asked?
“Because it might seem far-fetched for people who don’t understand rural hospitals," she said.
Think about that.
We are at the beginning of a sharp upward curve. It’s about to get a lot worse, fast. We are not prepared for the consequences of our government’s failure to mobilize.
The nightmare she described will come to pass if we don’t dramatically change our response to this crisis.
The nightmare she described will come to pass if we don’t dramatically change our response to this crisis.
What I’m seeing from experts suggests it’s too late to stop this from spreading, but we can still slow it down. We still have a shot at preventing our hospitals from being totally overrun and forcing doctors to decide who to save and who to let die for lack of medical resources.
Act as though you already have the coronavirus. Do everything you can not to spread it. Wash your hands obsessively, stay home as much as you can, social distancing, all of it.
For a little while longer, we can still prevent the worst-case scenario. But our time is nearly up.
For a little while longer, we can still prevent the worst-case scenario. But our time is nearly up.
