Thread by @sqabbasi

As a physician, I am absolutely appalled by the risk/treatment of doctors and other health professionals during this pandemic. Every conversation or media post by my colleagues from across the country is one of frustration and anger.
1/

Non-medical personnel, i.e. hospital CEOs & management, who are NOT actually on the frontlines treating patients are dictating how we practice medicine & are forcing us to put ourselves and our patients in high risk situations.
2/

MDs are told that there is not enough personal protective equipment, we should reuse & ask permission for masks. Or to not test symptomatic folks in the ER bc rooms need to be cleaned & aired out for 2 hours or because there are not enough testing kits.
3/

Some hospitals are not "allowing" MDs to cancel elective cases or routine appointments without administration approval, regardless that this has been recommended by most major physician educational societies.
4/

Every physician/health professional working without proper personal protective equipment, forced to see elective office visits or perform elective procedures, are at high risk right now, and we are all frustrated. Here are some direct accounts:
5/

From a colleague in TX: "If I wear PPE, I should be able to continue caring for other patients and my family, no? If every doc/nurse who cared for know COVID with PPE had to then quarantine for 2 weeks, who will be left?"
6/

From a colleague in IL: "We are supposed to work even if positive as long as no fever. WTAF."
7/

Colleague in AR: "all that are working w/o protection are at high risk of infection & will inevitably be super-spreaders, passing it along during our asymptomatic period & bringing it home to our families before we then become infected patients ourselves"
8/

Another from IL: "We have health care workers from other departments showing up in our ER requesting testing & also being sent away."
9/

Colleague in CA: "I asked for an N95 mask to have available in case a patient needed intubation and waited 20 minutes for them to find the key and open up the nursing administration office to get one mask for me."
10/

Colleague in KS after being exposed to COVID19+ patient: "I only get tested if I develop symptoms and need to check my temperature twice daily at home. They don’t mandate I get tested but of course if I develop symptoms then I can’t work"
11/

HWC in CA: "They are tying up the ventilators by doing these non-urgent, routine operating room cases. This is madness and needs to stop"
12/

These encounters are scary, disturbing and frustrating. Health professionals are leaders in society. Our goals are to prolong and preserve human life. We have a duty to keep our communities healthy. But I ask, who has a duty to us?
13/fin
#COVID19