TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I’m reposting this from our local NextDoor forum in the hope it illustrates the dire situation our hospitals and healthcare workers are facing and the need to do everything we can to stem the spread of this virulent disease:

“My experience last night working in the emergency department.

I have been an emergency room doctor for 13 years. Last night I was working in the ER in one of our neighboring counties. I had a patient who needed an emergent life-saving procedure that can generally only be done at a major medical center and requires a bed an ICU afterwards. After hours on the phone, I found that every single tertiary care hospital in NC’s medical ICUs are full. So full that they wouldn’t even put people on waitlist. So I did something I’ve never had to do before and started reaching out to hospitals in South Carolina and Virginia. Same situation. The small hospitals where I was working ICU is full and so many ICU level patients have to remain in the emergency department, or go to floors they had lower levels of care they deserved.

Recently a group of doctors in South Florida staged a 15 minute walk out to bring attention to the fact that they are hospitals are so overwhelmed that they can’t take care of patients with simple medical problems like appendicitis or heart attacks (don’t worry, there were still doctors in the hospital taking care of patients during the walk out). I’m worried that we are fast approaching it’s kind of cliff in our area.

The simple, non-political fact is the healthcare system is being overwhelmed by Covid and that more than 98% percent of admitted Covid patients are unvaccinated. (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/08/10/us/covid-breakthrough-infections-vaccines.html).

This is not hate for unvaccinated people, but rather a plea to be part of the solution rather than one of the statistics. It’s now clear that our choices are strongly affecting other people.

I’m sure this is going to generate a bunch of unkind responses, but I feel like providing an honest picture of what’s happening in the hospital right now is worth risking the ire of social media. But please, before you hit that reply button to type something snarky, consider what I am spending my days and nights doing, and whether or not it’s something you would say to me to my face.

Praying for you to stay well and be courageous in your choices. If you have honest questions about the vaccine, please PM me and I will try to answer as many as I have time to.”

Rsangha Loc: Lynchburg, VA

Bless you for stating the FACTS!
Wish there were more like you that could recognize the state of the COVID reality!

Rsangha

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

pbcbob Loc: Delray Beach, FL

Keep up the good work.

BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

Hi Chris, Your post is so true. It is very unfortunate that this whole thing has been so politicized.
Hopefully by next year it will all be included in our annual flu shot and no one will care.
I remember traveling internationally 50 years ago and having the yellow inoculation document along with my passport.
If you did not have it, you did not travel, period.

I recent had a conversation with a reluctant relative who was spewing, "...Well, I don't know what's in the vaccine!"
I looked at him and said, "Hell, you don't know what's in the Dr. Pepper your drinking, but that doesn't seem to bother you!"
He did not have a reasonable comeback.

This is the same person who once mentioned that he had a headache.
So I, jokingly, suggested that he ingest some acetylsalicylic acid.
He violently responded that he would never take any drugs.
He then excused himself for a moment stating that he was going to go get a couple of Aspirin!

The dumbing down of America is tragic.

Dan' de Bourgogne

Thank You 3X! This is a witness from first hand! Hat down for Your courage...I'm waiting for Your agreement to make a copy of this "post" and forward it to some few members of my family who disagree the vaccination.

cameranut Loc: North Carolina

More power to you for stating the facts. Easier said than done, but try not to let it get you down. Keep doing the right thing.

jerrym

Well said.. Should be read by everyone---

Najataagihe

If he knew, he would quit drinking them!



::headthump::

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I think the physician who publicly posted it would be glad to have his experience propagated in the hope that maybe it might save some infections and lives.

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

DOC:
Thanks for being there!

For everyone else that hasn't

GET VACCINATED NOW!! ---

David Martin Loc: Cary, NC

This scenario is being played out across the county. One of my kids is an E.R. doc in the Chattanooga area, and has told me of the increasing Covid case load she is seeing, and how she's faced with a similar lack of hospital beds (especially ICU) in a widespread area, resulting in Emergency Rooms having to "warehouse" critically ill patients in hallways.Indeed. The kind of ignorant behavior we might read about in history books, except that we're seeing it in real time.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

I saw a stat that on average for the whole country only 10% of patients in hospitals are there for Covid. Many of the others are people with things they let go without treatment in the last 18 months. But in some areas the Covid % is much higher.

My wife developed blood clots in her lungs in Jan of this year. She wouldn't listen to me or anyone and just kept saying it is only a cold with congestion. She is a retired surgical nurse, I spent far too much time in care for asthma and our oldest son has a room here for when he is in town and he (she didn't listen to him either) did all but the last class to be a Special Forces Medic (he did do the EMT certification and has it from the Army). He finally just put her in the car when the pulse oximeter indicated she was well down into the 80's and drove her (protesting all the way) to the ER. She spent two days in the ER (the local Kaiser Medical Center had large tents in the parking lot as over flow wards-our climate allows that, thank God). She didn't like it and when they had her stable she bargained to go home explaining she had her own high end Army Medic to watch her. With an oxygen concentrator, oxygen tanks, her meds and other gear like a 3" foam pad on the couch with multiple pillows to raise her head we turned the living room into a "home ICU" with a staff of two - myself and our son who didn't have any callups for the Reserves or missions for the Red Cross or Team Rubicon.

She moved back to our upstairs bedroom after a while but missed the sound system, 58" TV etc. So she is back in the living room, she says she got so used to the couch it is more comfortable to her now. She falls asleep with the TV going and remote in her hand. She also has a full time roommate on days our son isn't here - his cat Sara, who thinks Mama's tummy makes an excellent bed. I sit up late editing photos, watching SciFi on Cable and reading in the family room which doubles as my "office/Dad Cave" so when I go to bed I remove the remote, turn off the TV and surround sound stereo system, make sure her C-Pap is running and has water. Tell her little room mate to watch Mama and I go to bed.

She does still have a persistent cough which of course: "It's nothing, yes I told the doctor about it!" All her appointments are phone, Zoom or a quick dash to the lab. When our son gets back from his month's active duty next week I think he and I our going to get together for another "You ARE going to the Urgent Care or ER!" - she still won't listen to me, after all I am just a retired history teacher and know nothing about medicine so she doesn't listen to me and our daughter is at UVA Charlottesville in her 3rd year of Medical School - my wife doesn't listen to her over the phone well either.

Sorry, I am using this to talk about the problem(s) since the dogs and the goldfish don't really understand.

Oh, all five of us in the family are vaxxed. Jasmine at UVA in late Dec, early Jan, Michael (oldest) through the Army and Red Cross in late Jan, early Feb, myself and Debra in early Feb (and she has us on a waiting list for boosters if Kaiser decides to give those in the Fall, and our middle child Jon (special needs, 29 but the mentality of a bright 5 year old) got his in April. Jasmine got the Moderna at UVA Med School and the rest of us all got Pfizer.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

Any old time now at the airline checkin " Can I see your vaccination passport please ". "Sorry I don't have one". "Well Sir so are we. No passport no fly".
And on checkin to the local hospital " Sir have you been vaccinated yet ?". " No ". " Sorry Sir no room only those who have been vaccinated are allowed in ".

I think you might see a pickup in vaccination rates.

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

I have heard too many stories of unvaccinated people with covid in the hospitable who regret not having been vaccinated. Please get the vaccine before getting covid. My friends daughter got covid before the vaccine was available and still can’t smell or taste. To protect children who can’t be vaccinated get the vaccine.