Respiratory Therapists (Zachery Milner)
NPR: Respiratory Therapists Are On The Frontline Of Coronavirus Battle
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/02/825800563/respiratory-therapists-are-on-the-frontline-of-coronavirus-battle
Five claims that Respiratory Therapists Are On The Frontline Of Coronavirus Battle makes
Claim one:"We hear Governor Cuomo of New York saying we need 40,000 ventilators."https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/03/28/gov_cuomo_on_ventilators_in_nyc_they_are_in_stockpile_we_dont_need_them_until_the_apex.html
This is not the original time time where governor Cuomo said that the state of new york might need 40000 ventilators, but it is a video of him defending his claim which is an admission from him that he originally made the claim. This proves that the claim is correct.
Claim two:
"you've got people typically working 12-hour shifts with increasing numbers of patients"https://www.indeed.com/community/healthcare/what-hours-shifts-do-you-work-as-an-rt/td-p/1790711
The top response here is about the hours typically that a respiratory therapist works which is a 12 hour shift. On top of this, the individual that I interviewed worked three 12 hour shifts a week.
Claim three:
"basically, doubling and tripling the number of patients that the respiratory care department"https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2020-04-01/coronavirus-pandemic-exposes-need-for-respiratory-therapists
This article states how there have been an increase in patients in the respiratory care department. In addition to this, the individual that I interviewed said that three of the four wards in the hospital are dedicated to COVID-19.
Claim four:
"people think that you can try to ventilate two patients on one ventilator."https://www.propublica.org/article/desperate-hospitals-may-put-two-patients-on-one-ventilator-thats-risky
This website talks about the controversial subject, and how it might be dangerous; on top of this, the medical students in the second to last colloquium that we had confirmed that there were talks about this.
Claim five:
" some states are giving special student licenses to let students that were a few months from graduating to go into practice even though they haven't graduated yet."https://abcnews.go.com/Health/coronavirus-patients-surge-medical-students-rushed-practice-fight/story?id=69782734
This website how schools are offering early graduation so students can get into the health care workforce. In addition to this the hospital where the individual that I interviewed works for has three student workers due to corona.
Perspective essay
Hospitals are working to treat COVID-19 and some of the hospital personnel who are treating the patients are Respiratory Therapists. Respiratory Therapists are at an increased risk to catch the corona mostly for a few reasons: there is an increased exposure that respiratory therapists have to the corona through their patients, there is an increased number of patients compared to normal which causes the respiratory therapist to rush to get to everybody which puts them at a greater risk, and the hospitals are running out of PPE (personal protective equipment).
Being medical workers, respiratory therapists have a mixed viewpoint on the corona. Although the respiratory therapists don’t have the protection that they should have to stay safe, and they are in close contact with the virus; however unlike most, respiratory therapists are still able to work at their job and many even receive emergency pay due to the pandemic. As one of the only active jobs, respiratory therapists stand to gain a nice bonus financially from the pandemic, however due to the lack of personal protective equipment in the hospitals they are also much more likely to get the virus. So far many respiratory therapists have gotten sick from the corona and a few have even died.
Respiratory Therapists value a few things during the pandemic, the health of their patients but also their own personal safety themselves. Another thing that the respiratory therapists value is the safety of their family at home, no one wants to catch the corona at work and then bring it home and infect their family. It should be fair to say that one of the goals for the respiratory therapists is to make sure that they stay safe, and to keep as many other people as healthy as possible.
It is common knowledge that there is currently a shortage of ventilators, however there is also a shortage of individuals who can operate the ventilators. Hospitals are being flooded with patients, so much that they are “basically doubling and tripling the number of patients in the respiratory care department” (Tom Barnes, NPR).
The intended audience would be individuals who could be infected with the corona in the future with mild cases or individuals who have mild cases and are wondering if they should risk going to the hospital.. They reach them with this information by not allowing visitors into hospitals during the pandemic. This would be important to them because it might help them determine if their case is bad enough to risk going to the hospital.
The facts that matter to them are that they are at an increased risk to become infected with corona. “In Italy, 20% of responding health-care workers were infected, and some have died.” (The Lancet). On top of this many countries including the United states are experiencing PPE shortages, some respiratory therapists are bringing their own masks in so they can be protected, and many of the PPE that the workers do have, they are recycling between rooms so that they can have PPE in all of the rooms. Although many respiratory therapists are getting paid extra for the hours that they work in addition to their scheduled hours “health-care workers, unlike ventilators or wards, cannot run at 100% occupancy for long periods.” (The Lancet).
Respiratory therapists have the expertise that is needed to operate the all important ventilators that are necessary in hospitals. If there is no one to run the ventilator then it is effectively useless, “You need skilled people who have lots of experience doing this to have good outcomes with these patients,” (Eric Levenson, CNN).
Respiratory therapists mostly trust the hospitals because they provide them with the job, and provide them with PPE (although not very well) so the therapists have to trust the hospitals at least part way with their safety. In a way the respiratory therapists distrust their patients and the environment because they are the most likely sources for the respiratory therapist to become infected with corona, and possibly die.
The respiratory therapists have to work with the other medical staff to do their jobs, that being said, there is conflict with all of the coworkers because everyone is trying to get the best PPE that they can have so that they don’t expose themselves to corona. The shortage of PPE causes tension between the different hospital workers who all want to stay safe when they do their job.