Four years ago today, I walked into the apocalypse.
Crossing the line in the ER felt like entering a whole other world.
Frenetic alarms.
Patients strewn about, struggling to breathe.
Too few staff. Too many deaths.
Covid was everything.
It had completely taken over our ER
Crossing the line in the ER felt like entering a whole other world.
Frenetic alarms.
Patients strewn about, struggling to breathe.
Too few staff. Too many deaths.
Covid was everything.
It had completely taken over our ER
Covid inundated NYC a week prior.
And many of our staff fell ill.
Especially the nurses.
We had only a fraction of those we needed.
Too few to notice when the oxygen tanks under patients’ beds ran out.
So we did something kinda insane.
Actually unbelievable
And many of our staff fell ill.
Especially the nurses.
We had only a fraction of those we needed.
Too few to notice when the oxygen tanks under patients’ beds ran out.
So we did something kinda insane.
Actually unbelievable
We ran tubing from the oxygen outlets on the wall
up, up, up
then through the ceiling
and then dangled it down to the middle of the ER
All over the ER
So everyone could get a reliable oxygen supply
And not suffocate when their tank ran out
It saved lives.
A lot.
A lot.
up, up, up
then through the ceiling
and then dangled it down to the middle of the ER
All over the ER
So everyone could get a reliable oxygen supply
And not suffocate when their tank ran out
It saved lives.
A lot.
A lot.
But not all
“Hey, who has the guy in room 7”
—“Oh, me”
“He’s dead”
Keep going.
Others would die the same shift.
“Hey, who has the guy in room 7”
—“Oh, me”
“He’s dead”
Keep going.
Others would die the same shift.
Hundred died that day in NYC from Covid
The worse was still in front of us
A week later, 815 died. In one city.
Morgues were over capacity.
Walk by trucks set up outside the hospital for the overflow.
More staff fell ill.
They couldn’t get tested. Still.
The worse was still in front of us
A week later, 815 died. In one city.
Morgues were over capacity.
Walk by trucks set up outside the hospital for the overflow.
More staff fell ill.
They couldn’t get tested. Still.
Four years ago, we had no idea what would happen next.
How long it would last
Or who would be next
Would it be as bad in Chicago?
LA?
Detroit?
Phoenix, Cheyenne, or Pensacola?
We know how it played out now
We knew nearly nothing then
We didn’t know
How long it would last
Or who would be next
Would it be as bad in Chicago?
LA?
Detroit?
Phoenix, Cheyenne, or Pensacola?
We know how it played out now
We knew nearly nothing then
We didn’t know
Today, many will tell you we overreacted then
But you’ll never hear that from someone, anyone who worked in the hospital then
Covid scarred a generation of healthcare workers
Many watched their colleagues suffer.
Struggle to breathe.
Then die.
But you’ll never hear that from someone, anyone who worked in the hospital then
Covid scarred a generation of healthcare workers
Many watched their colleagues suffer.
Struggle to breathe.
Then die.
Mistakes were made.
Politics became paramount.
We all paid the price.
But until the day I die
No one can tell me…
The things I saw
The things we
All those on the frontline
Witnessed and endured
We’re not real
We’re not the worst things we will
EVER see
Politics became paramount.
We all paid the price.
But until the day I die
No one can tell me…
The things I saw
The things we
All those on the frontline
Witnessed and endured
We’re not real
We’re not the worst things we will
EVER see
The past is being rewritten
But none of us who witnessed those early days can scrub our memories of the pain, and horror
We’ll never forget finding young, otherwise healthy people dead in a chair
And we’ll never forget our colleagues who died
You might.
But we won’t.
But none of us who witnessed those early days can scrub our memories of the pain, and horror
We’ll never forget finding young, otherwise healthy people dead in a chair
And we’ll never forget our colleagues who died
You might.
But we won’t.
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