Thinking back on COVID

COVID was one of the more interesting times in our history. It was something that we have never experienced before. And hopefully never will again. We were so busy. There was one day I came to work and we had seven high flows and three ventilators. And I was the only therapist available to take care of them. It was unsafe, but that's all we had.

I did have a coworker, but she had her half of the hospital to care for. And she was equally as busy. And I remember one time when ER called and said they needed me STAT in the ER. And I said, "Sorry, I can't go. I have two patients up here that we are about ready to intubate." 

And there was another time I was so busy that, when ER texted that they needed me STAT, I never even had time to respond. It was just so busy. 

I was so busy, one of the nurses asked if I would help prone a patient. "Nope! I'm sorry, I am just too busy." 

I was asked to help take a ventilated patient down to cat scan. "Sorry, I am unavailable right now." 

And there was no way to get more staffing, because it was this busy at every other hospital too. And at one point we needed more ventilators. And I talked to my boss about this. And he said, "Sorry, every other hospital needs more ventilators too." 

Gosh, it was so busy. And it was fun. It was monotonous, but it was fun. It was fun because we really got to use our skills. We got the utmost respect from doctors and nurses AND the community. There was one day I got home, feet hurting like crazy, mind spent with burnout, and there was a sign in my front yard that said, "A Healthcare Hero Lives Here!" 

That was neat. And that same day, as I was walking up to my house, the neighbor lady came over with a pasta dish. It was hot and ready to serve. And she said, "I just appreciate what you are doing so much. I didn't know what else to do for you. So I made you this." That was neat.