A Day in the Life of an ER Doc on the COVID-19 Frontlines
00:00:00.000 | I think at this point, large scale reliable data
00:00:02.320 | is really important, but also important
00:00:04.700 | are the human stories.
00:00:06.120 | And something that caught my eye was the day in the life
00:00:09.320 | of an emergency room doctor, Craig Spencer,
00:00:12.880 | that he revealed in a series of tweets.
00:00:16.200 | Thank you everyone for the incredible messages
00:00:18.000 | of support and encouragement.
00:00:19.760 | Many of you asked what it was like
00:00:21.400 | in the emergency room right now.
00:00:23.320 | I want to share a bit with you.
00:00:25.360 | A day in the life of an emergency room doc,
00:00:28.640 | a brief dispatch from the COVID-19 frontline.
00:00:31.560 | Wake up at 6.30 a.m.
00:00:34.320 | Priority is making a big pot of coffee for the whole day
00:00:37.140 | because the place by the hospital is closed.
00:00:39.200 | The Starbucks too, it's all closed.
00:00:41.800 | On the walk, it feels like Sunday, nobody's out.
00:00:44.660 | Might be the freezing rain or it's early,
00:00:46.620 | regardless, that's good.
00:00:48.840 | Walk in for the 9 a.m. shift,
00:00:50.640 | immediately struck by how the calm
00:00:52.600 | of the early morning city streets
00:00:54.460 | is immediately transformed.
00:00:56.380 | The bright fluorescent lights of the emergency room
00:00:59.060 | reflect off everybody's protective goggles.
00:01:01.640 | There's a cacophony of coughing.
00:01:03.960 | You stop, mask up, walk in.
00:01:07.560 | You take sign out from the previous team,
00:01:09.840 | but nearly every patient is the same, young and old.
00:01:12.840 | Cough, shortness of breath, fever.
00:01:16.280 | They're really worried about one patient,
00:01:18.660 | very short of breath, on the maximum amount of oxygen
00:01:21.340 | we can give, but still breathing fast.
00:01:24.360 | You immediately assess this patient.
00:01:26.460 | It's clear what this is and what needs to happen.
00:01:29.020 | You have a long and honest discussion with the patient
00:01:31.180 | and family over the phone.
00:01:32.860 | It's best to put her on life support now
00:01:35.120 | before things get much worse.
00:01:37.260 | You're getting set up for that,
00:01:39.040 | but you're notified of another really sick patient coming in.
00:01:43.700 | You rush over.
00:01:44.900 | They're also extremely sick, vomiting.
00:01:47.640 | They need to be put on life support as well.
00:01:49.980 | You bring them back.
00:01:51.660 | Two patients in rooms right next to each other,
00:01:54.120 | both getting a breathing tube.
00:01:55.900 | It's not even 10 a.m. yet.
00:01:58.220 | For the rest of your shift,
00:01:59.300 | nearly every hour you get paged.
00:02:01.540 | Stat notification, very sick patient,
00:02:03.900 | short of breath, fever, oxygen 88%.
00:02:07.340 | Stat notification, low blood pressure,
00:02:09.580 | short of breath, low oxygen.
00:02:12.260 | Stat notification, low oxygen, can't breathe, fever.
00:02:16.220 | All day.
00:02:17.400 | Sometime in the afternoon,
00:02:19.500 | you recognize you haven't drank any water.
00:02:21.700 | You're afraid to take off the mask.
00:02:23.540 | It's the only thing that protects you.
00:02:25.520 | Surely you can last a little longer.
00:02:27.900 | In West Africa during Ebola,
00:02:29.500 | you spent hours in a hot suit without water.
00:02:32.220 | One more patient.
00:02:33.480 | By late afternoon, you need to eat.
00:02:36.640 | Restaurant across the street is closed.
00:02:39.080 | Right, everything's closed.
00:02:41.380 | But thankfully, the hospital cafeteria is open.
00:02:43.800 | You grab something, wash your hands twice,
00:02:46.560 | cautiously take off your mask and eat as fast as you can.
00:02:49.720 | Go back, mask up, walk in.
00:02:52.760 | Nearly everyone you see today is the same.
00:02:55.220 | We assume everyone is COVID-19.
00:02:58.020 | We wear gowns, goggles and masks at every encounter,
00:03:01.840 | all day.
00:03:02.880 | It's the only way to be safe.
00:03:04.920 | Where did all the heart attacks
00:03:06.460 | and appendicitis patients go?
00:03:09.000 | It's all COVID.
00:03:10.260 | When your shift ends, you sign out to the oncoming team.
00:03:14.480 | It's all COVID-19.
00:03:16.280 | Over the past week, we've all learned the signs.
00:03:18.720 | He goes on to list the signs,
00:03:20.920 | one of which is low oxygen.
00:03:23.440 | You share concerns of friends throughout the city
00:03:25.640 | without personal protective equipment,
00:03:27.840 | hospitals running out of ventilators.
00:03:30.320 | Before you leave, you wipe everything down.
00:03:33.400 | Your phone, your badge, your wallet, your coffee mug,
00:03:36.520 | all of it, drown it in bleach.
00:03:39.140 | Everything in a bag, take no chances.
00:03:41.680 | Sure you got it all?
00:03:43.160 | Wipe it down again.
00:03:44.480 | Can't be too careful.
00:03:46.040 | You walk out and take off your mask.
00:03:48.080 | You feel naked and exposed.
00:03:50.160 | It's still raining, but you want to walk home.
00:03:53.080 | It feels safer than the subway or bus.
00:03:55.540 | Plus, you need to decompress.
00:03:57.680 | The streets are empty.
00:03:59.120 | This feels nothing like what is happening inside.
00:04:02.160 | Maybe people don't know.
00:04:03.400 | You get home, you strip in the hallway.
00:04:06.760 | It's okay, your neighbors know what you do.
00:04:08.960 | Everything in a bag.
00:04:10.240 | Your wife tries to keep your toddler away,
00:04:12.360 | but she hasn't seen you in days, so it's really hard.
00:04:15.680 | Run to the shower, rinse it all away.
00:04:17.960 | Never happier.
00:04:19.280 | Time for family.
00:04:20.380 | You reflect on the fact that it's really hard
00:04:23.760 | to understand how bad this is and how bad it's going to be
00:04:27.160 | if all you see are empty streets,
00:04:29.320 | hospitals are nearing capacity,
00:04:31.280 | we're running out of ventilators,
00:04:33.080 | ambulance sirens don't stop.
00:04:34.980 | Everyone we see today was infected a week ago or more.
00:04:40.040 | The numbers will undoubtedly skyrocket overnight
00:04:42.960 | as they have every night the past few days.
00:04:45.840 | More will come to the emergency room.
00:04:47.880 | More will be stat notifications.
00:04:49.960 | More will be put on a ventilator.
00:04:52.000 | We were too late to stop the virus, full stop,
00:04:56.560 | but we can slow its spread.
00:04:58.960 | The virus can't infect those it never meets.
00:05:01.500 | Stay inside.
00:05:02.720 | Social distancing is the only thing that will save us now.
00:05:06.600 | You might hear people say it isn't real.
00:05:08.840 | It is.
00:05:10.040 | You might hear people say it isn't bad.
00:05:12.560 | It is.
00:05:13.800 | You might hear people say it can't take you down.
00:05:16.800 | It can.
00:05:18.320 | I survived Ebola.
00:05:20.280 | I fear COVID-19.
00:05:22.880 | Do your part.
00:05:24.000 | Stay home.
00:05:25.000 | Stay safe.
00:05:26.120 | And every day I'll come to work for you.
00:05:29.360 | This is a moving or counting through a series of tweets
00:05:32.100 | by an emergency room doctor
00:05:34.160 | on the very front lines of fighting COVID-19.
00:05:37.300 | Without question, the best thing we can do now is stay home
00:05:40.720 | while people like Craig Spencer,
00:05:42.800 | doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, service workers,
00:05:46.120 | support us and treat the people who are sick.
00:05:48.720 | And really importantly,
00:05:50.280 | as we get more and more reliable data.
00:05:53.560 | This isn't the time to panic.
00:05:55.320 | This is a time to take optimal action
00:05:57.240 | given that we're operating under a huge amount
00:05:59.640 | of uncertainty.
00:06:00.680 | The two things we need to do is the most important
00:06:04.160 | is to save lives.
00:06:05.400 | And the second is collect good, reliable data.
00:06:08.740 | Before we can reopen the economy,
00:06:10.560 | we have to get good data to understand the spread
00:06:14.640 | of the virus in order to be able to control it.
00:06:17.040 | And all the while treating people who are sick
00:06:18.960 | without overwhelming the resources of our medical system.
00:06:22.800 | Stay safe out there.
00:06:24.120 | Stay informed.
00:06:25.000 | Stay strong.
00:06:26.000 | We'll beat this thing.
00:06:27.240 | Love you all.
00:06:28.080 | (upbeat music)
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