A Philadelphia Doctor on What It's Like Preparing for the COVID-19 Outbreak

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to overwhelm communities across the United States, Rolling Stone reached out to a doctor specializing in neurocritical care at a Philadelphia hospital serving a low-income portion of the city. We discussed how the facility has struggled to prepare, how they see the coming weeks playing out, and what people across the country can do to help. They asked that we withhold their name and hospital affiliation, as they are concerned about retribution.

I’ve been worried for a while, but I would say I started to get really worried around three weeks ago. I started talking to other physicians, people in my department, and leadership at my hospital, saying things like, “Things are worrisome in Italy, I think that we’re headed in a similar direction. Are we going to be OK as far as protective equipment is concerned? Are we going to be OK as far as handling the number of patients?” Up until recently everyone I talked to was pretty much like, “No, it’s fine. We have plenty of equipment.” We got an email that said as long as everybody uses their PPE [Personal Protective Equipment] we’re going to have no problem whatsoever.

Then I got an email assigning me my singular mask. One. I was advised that if it gets dirty or anything happens to it, I can trade it in for another one. I have to bring it in, give them my soiled mask, and then get a new one. I was assigned a single N95 mask.

If anyone [at the hospital] has symptoms, they’ve been advised to quarantine for really no more than seven days past symptoms. They’re asking us to return to work and just wear a mask and practice good hand hygiene. That’s pretty frightening for all of us.

The single mask is also pretty frightening. I interact with ICU patients, I interact with COVID-positive patients. I interact with people in the EDU [Emergency Decisions Unit] that have unknown COVID status. They’re telling us that a surgical mask should be fine for us because we’re neurologists. I’ve been advising my residents, everyone that I can talk to, that this doesn’t seem like a good idea. Because you can’t know. A patient that one of my residents had seen tested positive, and I don’t know what mask she was wearing. I’m pretty sure it was a surgical mask, which doesn’t protect you. I’ve advised them all to wear their single N95.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/doctor-philadelphia-covid-19-outbreak-prepare-masks-protective-gear-help-975086/