‘Very tired and hurting’
Frontline workers plead not to gather for holidays
A panel of four tired and frustrated healthcare providers hosted a live press conference via Facebook on Tuesday morning to urge the public to think twice before gathering for the upcoming holidays.
Carrie Monteiro, the Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency’s Public Information Officer, welcomed the public to the ‘From the Frontlines’ press conference shortly after 11 a.m., and let the panel take over from there. The four healthcare providers on the panel included Kaweah Delta ICU Physician Dr. Harjoth “Joe” Malli, Sierra View Medical Center Critical Manager of Critical Care Services Hannah Risvold, Kaweah Delta Emergency Department Physician Dr. Sakona Seng and Adventist Health Infection Prevention Director Teri Boggess.
Malli began the press conference by relaying a few messages from some of his fellow frontline healthcare providers who have seen the direct effects COVID-19 has taken on families in Tulare County.
“They wanted you all at home to understand that they are very tired and hurting and pleading that the public do their part to help them…,” said Malli. “Instead of things getting better, they’re dramatically worse.”
Malli stated the number of COVID inpatients being seen have quadrupled, and those fighting the virus aren’t necessarily winning the fight against COVID. “It’s a very trying time,” said Malli.
Malli also brought to light some of the effects the virus has taken on the healthcare workers working day and
night to treat COVID patients. He said nurses and doctors are choosing to not go home as they’re afraid of spreading the virus to their families, and are instead staying in hotels. He stated healthcare providers should be proud of what they’re doing, and they’re inspiring future generations.
As for the portion of the public who refuse to adhere to the state’s guidelines to help stop the spread of COVID, Malli’s frustration was evident.
“For those who choose to be selfish and gather and spread the virus when they have a choice not to, others are going to know,” said Malli. “The dust is going to settle and it will be completely apparent to everyone what happened during this crisis, and what caused it to go from a bad situation to a worse situation.”
Malli urged the public to “take the high road” by not gathering for the holidays.
“It’ll save you,” said Malli. “It’ll save us.”
Once Malli had finished speaking, Risvold spoke to the public about what it has been like working on the frontlines at Sierra View.
“We used to call it a nightmare, but at this point in time, we are just trying to get by…,” said Risvold. “We are all feeling the impact of this.”
She explained tsome of her fellow workers are leaving simple things lbehind to work around the clock as the hospitals continue to fill with COVID
patients. She stated that public should take a moment and think about what it’s like for the healthcare providers who are watching people die alone on a consistent basis. Risvold explained a normal work week for her is usually 72 hours, but nurses are working more than 140 hours a week to keep safe ratios.
“Our entire health care system is fatigued,” said Risvold. “If you can do your part and help prevent the spread, I think that’s the most important thing we can emphasize to our communities. We continuously turn off our alarm clocks and crawl out of bed every single day to take care of your loved ones. The least you can do is do your part in preventing the spread and making sure that you are masking and you are staying home and you’re not gathering, because this is a nightmare that nobody wants to be living in and nobody wants to be going through.”
Seng spoke next and talked about the impacts COVID has had on the emergency department and services.
“What we have seen over the last year is an exhaustion of our resources,” said Seng.
He stated healthcare workers want to advocate for every patient who comes in and give them the best care but it’s getting to the point it’s becoming more difficult as the hospitals don’t have enough resources to handle the amount of in-patients who are coming in.
“While we certainly have focus on COVID-19 and that specific population,
we can’t forget the fact that we have people who still have heart attacks and strokes, they still get into car accidents,” said Seng. “We need bed space. We need the capability to still maintain taking care of those folks too. I hope that the public thinks about that as the holidays approach.”
Seng said what he has learned is there’s a pattern in major spikes in COVID cases and they occur right around holidays where people are likely to have gathered.
“My plea today is to urge the public to recognize where our health system is and hear from the healthcare providers about what a shift is like,” said Seng. “I will tell you when there are 40 patients in the waiting room, and 20 of them have been seen, I’m worried about patient 30 because I haven’t been able to get to them yet. If he or she is really sick, I want to advocate for them when I get there, so I ask for the public to consider that and really refrain from any high level gathering.”
Last to speak was Boggess who touched on how devastating the pandemic has been for the healthcare system, but also gave what she called ‘a glimmer of hope.’
“We are seeing a surge like we have not seen before,” said Boggess. “This one is much more dire than the one we saw in July.”
Boggess said Adventist Health in the Central Valley is working to care for healthcare workers by getting them vaccines, and stated the vaccine will be able to provide immunity within the community,
“As all of us look toward this vaccine providing us with immunity within our community, hopefully one day we can look back and have immunity within our community and end this pandemic.”
Boggess announced many of the frontline healthcare workers have received vaccines in the county, and, as all of the other speakers did, urged the public not to gather during the upcoming holidays.
“We are not at the end of the tunnel yet and it’s so important that the public understand that they do need to play their role in stopping the spread of this virus,” said Boggess. “We are writing history now, and on the other side we can look back and say we did everything we could for our community.”