An ER surgeon working in Los Angeles shares his perspective on the incredibly difficult COVID-19 experience for doctors.
One such person is ER surgeonMauricio Heilbron, MD, the vice chief of staff atSt.
Marys Medical Centerin Long Beach, California.
NBC News reports thatone person dies every six minutes from COVID-19in the city.
What is it like at the hospital right now?
Dr. Heilbron:Its crushing.
Mauricio Heilbron, MD is a trauma surgeon, general surgeon, and vascular surgeon. He is also the vice chief of staff ar St. Mary’s Medical Center, located in Long Beach, California.
We have an entire floor that has nothing but very sick COVID-19 patients.
We turned rooms where we used to do colonoscopies into places where regular patients can safely be seen.
My job is as a trauma surgeon, general surgeon, and vascular surgeon.
This means that I take every call for trauma surgery.
What communities seem to be being affected most by COVID-19, that you are seeing?
MH:Its affecting pretty much everybody.
What Ive also noticed is that the average age has started to trend down.
Its Amazing How Its All Connected.
Ive taken four days off since February 2020 and I feel bad for just doing that.
Mauricio Heilbron, MD is a trauma surgeon, general surgeon, and vascular surgeon. He is also the vice chief of staff ar St. Mary’s Medical Center, located in Long Beach, California.
Nurses especially are overworked.
They are having to take care ofmore patients than everbefore at a higher level of severity than ever before.
Its just really, really hard.
How have you been taking care of your mental health?
MH:Well, you dont.
This is stressing me out to levels I have never experienced before.
Maybe I shouldnt have done that, but its just an example of how were breaking.
I know a lot of physicians who have given up and either left or retired early.
This is going to leave an emotional scar on pretty much everyone in the hospital.
I was getting some coffee in my scrubs the other day and someone called me a sheep.
And they dont always survive.
I am not built for this.
This is not why I went into medicine.
Are there still misconceptions about the virus people believe even now, one year into it?
MH:Yes, everywhere.
There is a lot of misinformation on social media and its crippling us in health care.
People just want to believe their preconceived set of ideas and that makes it very hard to reach people.
There is still a lot of misinformation about how the virus is spread.
A lot of people focus on hand-washing and cleaning surfaces.
What about the newCOVID-19 vaccines?
Is there misinformation surrounding them that you want to take this opportunity to clear up?
MH:This is the first time the public at large is seeing how medical research is done.
Normally it cant be rushed, but there is this pressure right now to rush things.
Because of this, weve developed the vaccine at unheard-of levels.
What we can say right off the bat is that its safe.
These hoaxes that go around get perpetuated in these echo chambers and then spread like crazy.
I already got my two dosesthats what I want people to know.
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