I thought I was done posting for the weekend but I needed to add one more.
I heard an interview this morning with a doctor who works in a medium sized south-west Texas hospital. Because of both doctor and nursing shortages, he has not had a single day off in 254 days! And his days are grueling. He just does not have the relief to take care of the patients. That is dedication but clearly not sustainable. I know what it is like to deal with a patient here and there with Covid in the hospital, and it’s terrifying and exhausting, but to do it all day long, every day for that many days in a row is unimaginable. That’s a true hero.
If the deniers including our leaders could just spend 5 minutes in his shoes, our pandemic response might look a whole lot different.
So why is there such a shortage of healthcare providers? Getting sick is one problem. Despite the PPE, when you deal with sick patients all day long, the odds are you’ll get sick eventually. I know a few docs who have really been kicked in the butt with this disease. Early retirement is another. The trend, even before Covid, was for people in healthcare, especially doctors, to retire earlier and get out of the rat race of paperwork, administration and fear of litigation. However, more people have felt compelled to come OUT of retirement to help with Covid than have left medicine and healthcare. More true heroes.
The BIGGEST problem is how widespread this infection and the disease is all over the country. Every state is on the rise. Most hospitals are strained to the max.ICUs are out of beds. We are breaking all records every day. Yesterday was the highest death count in 6 months, 2100.
Back in April and May, there were pockets of significant disease, like NYC where there were mobile morgues on the streets to deal with all the dead. Back then, healthcare workers from many unaffected areas were flocking to the hotzones to help out, just like first responders did during 9/11. Now, their own locations are hot zones so they can’t leave. The WHOLE freaking country is a hot zone! There are mobile morgues in South Dakota and in Texas, inmates are used to move bodies around!
The whole system, all over the country, is being taxed to the limit and a few weeks from now, after Thanksgiving, what some epidemiologists are calling the “mother of all super spreader events”, we are likely to have the collapse of the whole healthcare system.
I hope not, and I try to be optimistic, but hearing that doc this morning, with no day off in 254 days, and no help in site, I’m concerned.
PLEASE stay safe and keep all those around you safe.
You know the drill so I’ll skip it this time.
AC