Anallely Vargas

Research Question: How have the increased hours that medical professionals are working because of the COVID-19 outbreak affecting them physically and mentally ?

Emergency Room (ER) workers & their role in society

  Over the years, the world has not seen a pandemic like Covid-19 since the Black Plague (1342-1353) and the Spanish Flu in the 20th Century. The black plague and the Flu were epidemics that sparked an increase in doctors and other medical professionals. Later, this career became necessary since people wanted to have regular checkups and examinations to make sure they were healthy. Medical professionals are essential in our daily lives, especially ER medics. These are people who work 6-12 hour shifts daily to help those who come into the emergency room with serious injuries or health problems and need assistance from the ER workers. People do not have medical incidents every day unless they have specific physical or mental issues. Since healthy people do not regularly visit the emergency room as often, they do not consider ER workers’ importance. Yet, these professionals work hard to help others survive and allow them to have a stable and healthy life regardless of any conditions they come in with. The amount of input they put in is higher than the outcome expected during a worldwide pandemic. The strike of Covid-19 in China and its spread around the world has negatively impacted the medical professionals, and even those who have retired in need to save those who are affected by this virus and find a cure to stop the spread.

Health Care Workers: their reality before, during and after a pandemic strike 

When individuals decide to dedicate themselves to a job/career such as an ER worker, they know the limits and risks of what they are getting themselves into. Still, the government must ensure they have the necessary tools for a regular day of work and, especially during a pandemic. The probabilities of facing and trying to cure Infected patients are low, but they know that many things can occur in an emergency room, whether it is something minor or massive. With the start of the pandemic COVID-19, ER workers have been emotionally suffering. Their self-esteem was beginning to decline as the number of patients infected was increasing. This led to an economic crisis and a need for items that these workers needed to succeed in their job to treat the patients. Across the nation, emergency rooms were trying to figure out how to allocate limited resources such as masks, gloves, and ventilators.

Hospital beds were running out, becoming scarce items. Thus, the government did not have many options on how to intervene, but instead, choosing who received these items was implemented in these workers. What this meant is that those such as the “Hospital administrators and healthcare workers are performing a kind of triage on their COVID-19 operations, too, deciding who gets a ventilator, who gets a bed, and who gets a test. And, of course, who doesn’t” (Smith para 2). These individuals have to make these choices (say who) because of the high demand for masks, beds, and gloves, and the supply of these items being so low. Does an ER worker get to decide the fate of a patient during a pandemic? As part of their job, they have to be there and attend these patients regardless of how they achieve it, the physical and mental effects are traumatic during the lapse time, and the after-effects can be worse. These ER workers have taken actions to prevent them from  having to make such cruel actions. Although the government has provided them with the essential tool, it is not enough, and even when the correct protective gear is provided, it is often in short supply. They “Are storing them in paper bags in between patients, … Then, at the end of the shift, we are storing them in paper bags so that we can use them the next day” (Knibbs para 5). The need to save people with low amounts of supplies has forced them to reuse these items. The effects can be worse for the ER workers than for the patients. 

No medical worker would have reused their items, even before the pandemic this year. When a professional does not have the tools necessary to feel safe completing tasks, they feel incomplete and vulnerable. Monica is a medical worker who has seen drastic environmental and physical changes in her workplace. Monica mentions, “…That, while she’s used the inherent risk of her job, she feels her hospital failed to protect her and her family — and she blames herself, in part, for her husband’s illness” (Law para 2). Yes, it is the nurses and medicals to save people’s lives, they are called to do that, and they want to focus on that, but what happens when the risks cause a more significant consequence? These professionals interact with sick people, potentially bringing the virus into their homes and infecting their loved ones like Monica passed the virus to her husband. Medical workers start to panic and realize that their work inputs are too much compared to the cost, which is a considerable burden.

 People who are part of the medical field for years and experience working during a pandemic can suffer and experience anger. Marcelo Venegas has been a medical worker for the past eight years and said, “He’d called in sick only twice before in eight years on the job. “Being sick is daunting,” he said. “I’m never sick” (Lenny para 28). Doctors and other medical workers are used to their work and the risks that they begin to question their job when an unusual action happens. Do they want to continue doing their work regardless of the cost? Do they have to sacrifice their family or themselves to help others in need? Will or has the government made sufficient action so that these individuals do not go through different cycles during this 

pandemic? Do they have to wait to see the healthcare workers take measures for themselves that may not be appropriate? In the case of Dr. Lora Breen, she was a doctor who managed to help save patients despite the national health crisis. Even though she contracted the virus herself, got better, and still managed to go out there and still help out was a bravery action. Although she may have helped others, she put her life at risk and put too much pressure on herself. The outcome of her stories was not necessarily the ones expected. According to the police and the hospital workers where she worked, she ¨Died by suicide on Sunday after treating coronavirus patients and contracting the illness¨(Marisa para 1). Overall her goal was to help the nation overcome the pandemic. All she did was do her job and take risks, but her passion for her career took her life away. All of these are negative factors that have been impacting the healthcare workers nationally during this pandemic. Breen is one of many professional workers who will die trying to do their job and save other people’s lives.

When there are insufficient medical workers in a worldwide pandemic, the government has to find a solution to attend to the surplus amount of patients who are ill. Healthcare workers who are actively working day and night are also getting contacted, so what is the next step? Due to this, the government has to reactivate the licenses of retired doctors, to be able to continue helping all those infected and lower the case numbers.  Throughout the first cycle of COVID-19,  authorities required that a person in the third age be more protected since that was the age group more vulnerable. The proportion of retired medical workers who are in the third age or approximate to that group’s generation is very high. Yes, there could be pros and cons of having retired workers join to lower the number of cases since they have the experience; they mentally and physically know how to respond to emergencies. Although they are retired workers, they are still motivated and feel the need to help in their internal selves. Dr. Zwillich is a retired worker and has said that” I loved it when I did it, so it would be a little bit odd not to stand up and get involved if it’s really necessary. You know, I don’t have the skills to do some of the stuff I used to do – putting tubes into patients’ lungs, putting tubes into their chest walls, what have you. I wouldn’t want to be put in a position to do that because I haven’t done it in quite a while” (Mary, line 17).  The pros of doctors like Zwillich is that they will dedicate their time to save work with ill patients. The impact of this will be that they will help current healthcare workers and overpass the number of workers over the number of people who are contaged. The con, they are not as well doing specific actions and are in the third age. The recruiter has to ensure that the worker is in a healthy condition; otherwise, the cost will be less than the input. If the worker is not healthy, they put their life at risk, and instead of decreasing the cases, they will go up impacting the healthcare workers.  The number of healthcare workers, whether they are retired or have activated licenses, is putting a lot of effort in decreasing the number of cases. And Even though they are vulnerable because they have limited tools, some may be in the third age, suffer traumatic events, or even take their own lives away for others, they still manage to get through and leave a mark for any past or future individual who will join the medical field. Individuals like them, who enjoy and help others get better will always be necessary and especially in times of health crisis.

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Works Cited

“Coronavirus May Call On Retired Medical Workers To Come Back To Work.” NPR. NPR, 17 Mar. 2020. Web. 13 May 2020.

Knibbs, Kate. “The Race to Keep Health Care Workers Protected From Covid-19.” Wired. Conde Nast, 27 Mar. 2020. Web. 13 May 2020.

Law, Tara. “Medical Workers Face Coronavirus Mental Health Crisis.” Time. Time, 10 Apr. 2020. Web. 13 May 2020.

Lenny Bernstein, Shawn Boburg. “Covid-19 Hits Doctors, Nurses and EMTs, Threatening Health System.” The Washington Post. WP Company, 17 Mar. 2020. Web. 13 May 2020.

Marisa Iati, Kim Bellware. “NYC Emergency Doctor Dies by Suicide, Underscoring a Secondary Danger of the Pandemic.” The Washington Post. WP Company, 29 Apr. 2020. Web. 13 May 2020.

McCoppin, Robert. “Nursing Home Workers AUTHORIZE May 8 Strike at 40 ILLINOIS Facilities, Most in Chicago Area.” N.p., 28 Apr. 2020. Web. 13 May 2020.

McCue, Conor. “Former Health Care Workers Asked To Re-Enter Workforce As COVID-19 Spreads.” CBS Denver. CBS Denver, 16 Mar. 2020. Web. 13 May 2020.

Smith, Stacey Vanek, and Cardiff Garcia. “Scarcity In The Emergency Room.” Smith, Stacey Vanek, and Cardiff Garcia. “Scarcity In The Emergency Room.” NPR. NPR, 31 Mar. 2020. Web. 13 May 2020.

*  I still need to cite my sources in APA* 

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