The Heroism of Health Workers in the Coronavirus Crisis
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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/opinion/letters/coronavirus-health-care.html Version 0 of 1. To the Editor: Your Covid-19 coverage highlights the plights and heroic efforts of the countless health care workers on the front lines. My husband — a recent kidney transplant recipient — and I have been struck by the mind-blowing dedication of his team. We spoke with one of my husband’s physicians yesterday, aghast at his description of the treacherous working conditions and amazed at his unswerving commitment. To all the health care workers out there — doctors, nurses, technicians, medical staff, administrators, food service workers, pharmacists, security guards, our military deployed to set up hospitals and deliver aid — our nation owes you our thanks and our lives. On March 30, National Doctors Day, could we all join together in a moment of solidarity, and take one minute, say at noon Eastern time, to stop what we’re doing, and just cheer, applaud, bang some cans, wherever we are, for all the selfless people who are endangering themselves and their loved ones for all of our benefit — then post a photo via social media? These heroes deserve our recognition and our deepest gratitude. Ariane BrandtSouth Salem, N.Y. To the Editor: I am a first-year medical student at the Yale School of Medicine. Now that graduating medical students from all over the country know where they are going for residency, many of them just want to get started. On Wednesday, it was reported that New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine would allow its fourth-year students to graduate early. Other medical schools in the country should follow suit. These are students who are well trained, have already taken care of patients, are itching to go to bat for patients and can relieve many of the pressures that are about to crush our hospital systems. Shin Mei ChanNew Haven, Conn. To the Editor: She rises at 5:15 a.m., arrives in the Covid-19 unit by 7:15. Receives the handoff information from the night shift. She washes down, dons the yellow gown, shoe covers, hair cover, the N95 mask, gloves and the eye shield and enters the negative pressure room. Her distraught patient is coughing uncontrollably. She administers a breathing treatment along with some Tylenol and fluids, checks her oxygen saturation, delivers a message from her family and reassures her that she will get better. She leaves and repeats the process with her next patient. She does this for 12 hours. She goes home and disinfects before she greets her family, has some dinner and goes to bed. Rises at 5:15 and repeats the process, trying not to be discouraged by the patients who go on ventilators or don’t survive. The nurses never say no, they are always there, eight, 12, sometimes 15 hours a day, and then they do it again the next day and the next. They are the front line. Michael DewarGuilford, Conn.The writer is a cardiac surgeon at the Yale School of Medicine. To the Editor: Re “New Type of Outbreak Hoarding: Doctors Prescribe for Themselves” (front page, March 25): Physicians and all medical professionals are taking an enormous personal risk, for themselves and their families, in caring for the sick right now. My daughter, a physician, and all those she works with do not have all the personal protective equipment required. In Italy about 10 percent of those infected are medical professionals. Physicians and nurses are now being asked to work even if exposed to Covid-19, as long as they are asymptomatic. I know they find the idea of taking this infection home to their families and communities intolerable. My daughter will no longer see me or her grandparents. As a retired physician, I put myself on the New York State volunteer list, but wondered how I would face treating patients without an N95 respirator mask. I have not prescribed hydroxychloroquine for myself or family members, but I do not begrudge physicians and other medical personnel who have. It may help them continue to fight Covid-19, even if only psychologically, and we need them to keep fighting! Connie DiMariNew York To the Editor: As a member of the veterinary profession, I suggest that equipment, masks, gowns and gloves could be used by our human counterparts in medicine. Further, perhaps there’s a place for doctors, technicians and nurses who care for beloved pets in helping to care for patients during this crisis. There isn’t a veterinarian who can’t put in an IV catheter or adjust a ventilator. All of us have been trained and use such techniques every day, and we could be useful in these trying times of staff shortages. Seth A. KochPhiladelphia To the Editor: At 86, I am absolutely fine with dying — although I’m healthy and active and would not turn down another five or 10 years. So if I wind up with Covid-19, give the ventilator to someone else. What bothers me is that if our national leadership had just a fraction of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s brain, they would follow his very rational advice to send available ventilators to New York until the curve begins to bend, and then ship them to the next crisis area. Under that system, San Francisco would get an adequate supply in time for my neighbor and me both to survive. Fran Moreland JohnsSan FranciscoThe writer is the author of “Dying Unafraid” and on the board of End of Life Choices California. |