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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA Medical Worker Describes Terrifying Lung Failure From COVID-19 -- Even in His Young Patients
It first struck me how different it was when I saw my first coronavirus patient go bad. I was like, Holy shit, this is not the flu. Watching this relatively young guy, gasping for air, pink frothy secretions coming out of his tube.
by Lizzie Presser March 21, 5 a.m. EDT
As of Friday, Louisiana was reporting 479 confirmed cases of COVID-19, one of the highest numbers in the country. Ten people had died. The majority of cases are in New Orleans, which now has one confirmed case for every 1,000 residents. New Orleans had held Mardi Gras celebrations just two weeks before its first patient, with more than a million revelers on its streets.
I spoke to a respiratory therapist there, whose job is to ensure that patients are breathing well. He works in a medium-sized city hospitals intensive care unit. (We are withholding his name and employer, as he fears retaliation.) Before the virus came to New Orleans, his days were pretty relaxed, nebulizing patients with asthma, adjusting oxygen tubes that run through the nose or, in the most severe cases, setting up and managing ventilators. His patients were usually older, with chronic health conditions and bad lungs.
Since last week, hes been running ventilators for the sickest COVID-19 patients. Many are relatively young, in their 40s and 50s, and have minimal, if any, preexisting conditions in their charts. He is overwhelmed, stunned by the manifestation of the infection, both its speed and intensity. The ICU where he works has essentially become a coronavirus unit. He estimates that his hospital has admitted dozens of confirmed or presumptive coronavirus patients. About a third have ended up on ventilators.
https://www.propublica.org/article/a-medical-worker-describes--terrifying-lung-failure-from-covid19-even-in-his-young-patients
shanti
(21,675 posts)They had their Carnival about the same time.
Laelth
(32,017 posts)... a CYTOKINE STORM that proves lethal to young, healthy victims of COVID-19.
-Laelth
Overwhelming but important to know. Thank you!
Laelth
(32,017 posts)Not the happiest thread I have ever posted, but useful information all the same.
-Laelth
BeckyDem
(8,361 posts)Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth