🧵Today, I admitted 6 hypoxic patients with COVID and the waiting room was packed when I left my shift. Arizona had 3,206 new infections & 53 deaths. Nationwide, today was the DEADLIEST day of the pandemic with 1,869 deaths & 164,000 new infections 1/9
"Your loved one is really sick and has a high probability of dying," I said a few hours into my shift. Same outcome, different day, different family. Farmworker, grandmother, Native American, Latino, snowbirds.. they all blend together 2/9
Nurses, ER docs, Respiratory Techs, ICU docs, Janitors, Hospitalists etc.. were all pawns in an attack against public health by politicians scared to step inside a hospital, while the virus sickens us. We already have colleagues sick with COVID, so we scramble to cover shifts 3/9
1,700 hospitalized for COVID19 in Arizona. 76 at our rural hospital. It's like a wave that never breaks. Patients are admitted and difficult to discharge because of their oxygen requirement. The next day more patients are admitted - repeating the cycle 4/9
When I first arrived in Yuma, Arizona from NYC, few knew of the virus, but now MANY know someone that has died from COVID, prompting the Yuma County Board of Supervisors to make this PSA. It pains me to see my community destroyed by this virus @AZHouseDems
We need a national mask mandate. Increased production of N95s. Suspension of indoor activities - schools, bars, gyms. Stipends for families to stay home and a moratorium on home evictions. 6/9
On Nov 11, I said 2,000 people were going to die per day if nothing was done. Today 1,869 people died. Let's not mince words... these Republicans are trying to fucking kill us by letting innocent Americans get infected & hospitals overwhelmed. It is a crime against humanity 7/9
In Texas the @TXAG & @GovAbbott PREVENTED El Paso County from implementing a shutdown order to stem the cases of COVID overwhelming the hospitals. A county which is 84% Latino. This racism sickens me! 8/9
Healthcare workers, Teachers, Law Enforcement, Transit workers etc.. were all pawns in an attack against public health by politicians scared to step inside a hospital, for some sick political agenda. May the virus treat THEM with the same DEVASTATION as it has US. /end
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⚠️dead at 34
Amber Vasquez was a nurse in Dallas Texas who died from COVID because @GovAbbott failed to enact public health measures. Her body was irreversibly damaged by the virus. Let's ensure her family gets death benefits for her sacrifice. gofundme.com/f/xemd3z-amber…
⚠️dead at 49
Patrice Grossman, NICU nurse with Intermountain Healthcare, Utah died from COVID19. She is survived by her husband and 5 kids. abc4.com/news/utah-coun…
🧵A LETTER TO @dougducey and @GOP governors who fail to lead and listen to frontline healthcare providers!! You are KILLING US!!! You sit in your ivory tower, taunt the virus, ignore public health measures & attack the Affordable Care Act, while we die on the frontlines. 1/9
There are only 184 ICU beds and 931 inpatient beds (⚠️new record) left in Arizona! Even worse, we can't even use those beds because our healthcare workers are SICK and calling out. 53 ICU beds opened up yesterday, but tragically because 53 people DIED!!! 2/9
As the virus sweeps across hospitals infecting staff, even non-covid hospitalized patients are getting infected, similar to the nosocomial spread in assisted living facilities nationwide. 3/9 ktar.com/story/3704314/…
🧵I wish you could see what I see every day. Loved ones crying at the bedside of their family members struggling to breathe despite maximum oxygen. The look in their eyes when I tell them, there is a high probability their loved one might die despite being on a ventilator. 1/8
A 90 year old is not going to survive chest compressions resulting in sternum and rib fractures, if their heart stops beating. There is also a very low likelihood of elderly patients in their 80s getting off a ventilator if intubated for COVID. 2/8
I know holidays are near, but the pandemic is here. I'm not trying to be a downer, but please have these discussions with your elderly family members before the time comes in an emergency room. 3/8 harborlighthospice.com/blog/what-is-a…
🧵Hypoxic patients everywhere! The second wave is HERE Arizona. For me, it will be my THIRD time working through a surge, including my time in NYC. I saw patients of all ages today with COVID. 1/5
Those who were not hypoxic with COVID were sent home to self-quarantine with a high chance of infecting their families. 2/5
I try to detach myself emotionally nowadays because previous poor outcomes weighed heavy on my heart. I realize WE are on OUR OWN, as other spread misinformation. I can assess a patient and know if they will likely die in the next days. We all can. 3/5
What are you doing @SWAtlasHoover? Are you treating COVID patients? Colleagues dying? Family? NO, because you don't treat patients. You have ZERO credibility. You are a COWARD who does not care if 240,000 are dead. You should be stripped of your MD! @GovWhitmer is a REAL LEADER!!
Healthcare workers in Michigan can breathe a SIGH OF RELIEF knowing that @GovWhitmer has THEIR BACK by implementing restrictions to mitigate the pandemic -closing high schools, colleges, in-person dining, casinos, movie theaters etc.
One month ago, I tried to have a conversation with a Trump supporter here in Yuma, Arizona... "trying to be open minded." Who is this person with all these Trump signs on their property?
Never again!
Trumpee: what do you think of the coronavirus?
Me: I'm an ER doctor it's very serious
Trumpee: I think the pandemic is overblown
Me: do you know anyone who has COVID?
Trumpee: No
Me: 20,000 people died in 10 weeks in NYC. I had to call 2-3 loved ones per shift and deliver bad news. Just to let you know I'm kind of an expert in this
Trumpee: Fox says it's all old people (She was an elderly woman)
Me: There are many people under the age of 50.