Around 939,064, if only more cared

It’s hard to imagine anything worse than watching a friend or a loved one die a slow, agonizing death by asphyxiation, but it is happening all the time because of the virus and its many variants we call covid. It’s one thing to die naturally, from an accident, or because of something else that comes and causes death quickly; but covid too often takes a long time to accomplish its goal. During the past year, I have heard of too many people who died of covid after suffering up to three months in the hospital, much of the time on a ventilator helping them breathe.

It gets even worse. As a chaplain, I know firsthand how important it is for people who are dying to have friends and loved ones available for comfort and to help meet their needs. I have stood beside the beds of too many people who were dying and experienced their appreciation for their families and especially for special loved ones. Such is not true with covid. Because of the highly contagious nature of covid, our hospitals do not allow anyone except medical staff to be around people infected with the virus. Sometimes it is possible to reach them via a text, a phone call, or a video call; but not often. The patients are isolated and so are those who want to be with them. It’s a terrible situation. Around 939,064 (John Hopkins University) have died of covid in the United States alone.

Needless to say, all of us should be working hard to conquer this deadly virus. This means taking care for one’s own health, but also having the decency to care about any others who might be exposed to covid by the insensitivity of people who want to ignore safety protocols. We have the tools to defeat this virus, and not to use them is inexcusable.

However, in fairness, the covid virus is not the only deadly problem in our country. While I do not have up-to-date figures available at this time, 38,680 people died in automobile accidents during 2020, and the first six months of 2021 recorded 20,160 deaths. That’s a lot of people. I am sure that many of these fatalities were caused by the many things we expose ourselves to while driving a car, but some might be avoided if people cared enough to utilize the safety precautions available. Seat belts and air bags save a lot of lives.

I well remember a member of my church while living in Kansas who was struck by two cars at a busy intersection in Wichita— one from the side of her car and the other from in front of her car. She was wearing a seat belt and the air bags exploded, and she walked away from a potentially horrible accident. I saw her car shortly afterwards, and I could not envision anyone surviving such an accident.

The number one cause of death in the United States today is from heart issues. The CDC reports that around 659,000 people die of heart problems each year. Obviously, there are many different kinds of heart problems, but they are all serious issues.

In addition, 608,570 people died during 2020 from cancer. It is the number two cause of death in the United States. Unfortunately, cancer too often takes a long time before it claims a life, but most cancer patients having caring people around them during their illness. Thankfully, the number of people dying of cancer has declined during recent years.

All of this is simply to say that there are a great many things that affect how we live and die in our country. Yes, there are accidents that happen which are unavoidable, but in most cases there are many people involved. One of the most important persons in our lives is our physician. It is unfortunate that so many of our medical staff have been left out of the fight against covid, but they are there fighting for us when we have serious medical issues.

I may be a lone voice crying in the wilderness, but I firmly believe that our medical staff should be in the center of our fight against covid and other diseases. These are the people who are on the front lines of knowing what a patient needs or does not need, and they often risk their lives caring for their patients. They know better than pharmacists, social workers, and government politicians what is best for their patients; and they need to be utilized during these perilous times.

••• Robert Box has been a law enforcement chaplain for 29 years. He is a master-level chaplain with the International Conference of Police Chaplains and is an endorsed chaplain with the American Baptist Churches USA. He also currently serves as a deputy sheriff chaplain for the Benton County Sheriff ’s Office. Opinions expressed in the article are the opinions of the author and not the agencies he serves.