Military medical team aids YRMC in fight against COVID-19 here
Earlier this month, 40 military medical personnel from the U.S. Army Reserve arrived in Yuma to support the team of doctors, nurses and support staff at
Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC), who’ve been stretched thin by staffing shortages amid the volume of COVID-19 patients entering the hospital each day.
Part of a U.S. Department of Defense COVID-19 support operations, members of the team are manning posts in the hospital’s COVID-19 units on the medical floor as well as in the intensive care unit.
“There’s no question it’s been busy; the patients are very sick in the intensive care unit,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Pittenger, a critical care nurse serving in the ICU on his second COVID-19 relief mission.
Pittenger has been on the medical frontlines of the virus since the pandemic began last spring; for his first mission, he served in a civilian hospital in the Bronx, returning home to Wisconsin to help care for patients there before heading south.
In his 22 years as an Army nurse – 15 of which he’s spent serving in ICUs specifically – Pittenger has provided critical care in civilian hospitals around the United States and “multiple different countries” and served on relief missions in Central and South America. But none of his experiences compare to the last 10 months, he said.
“I’ve never seen anything like what COVID has done,” he said. “I don’t think our country has for a really long time.”
One of the greatest
challenges he’s witnessed is the lack of interaction many patients are able to have with their loved ones; they can talk over the phone or computer, but experiencing the warmth of their loved ones’ presence isn’t always a possibility.
This, Pittenger said, is an opportunity to “do some of his best work.”
“There is some visitation allowed at Yuma Regional Medical Center, but most hospitals I’ve worked at did not allow visitation; that makes the nurse that much more important in that patient’s life and experience,” he said.
“I’ve had many occasions where I’m sitting and holding someone’s hand. They know the reality of COVID, they’ve watched the news and they know this is a life-and-death situation. Even though I might be wearing goggles, a shield, a gown and every part of me is covered in protective equipment, to sit there and hold someone’s hand and try to encourage and comfort them – you are there are at their most vulnerable moments, and it’s a real honor to be able to be that person. I’ve had that experience throughout my nursing career, but COVID has magnified it.”
Amid the demands of each day, the challenges and the fatigue of responding to the ongoing COVID-19 dilemma, Pittenger said he was surprised – and impressed – to find staff across the hospital are still managing to keep their spirits high.
“They’re exhausted, they’ve been through a lot, but I’ve been so impressed by how resilient they’ve been,” he said. “They’re still keeping a positive attitude and still demonstrating compassionate care and really high level care, too. I didn’t know, coming into it, what the hospital would look like in this crisis; I was very impressed by how well they were holding together.”
Pittenger urges residents to put the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s handwashing, masking and social distancing protocols into regular practice, as he’s found them to be an effective intervention. However, in the event that individuals are unable to avoid the virus and require medical attention, Pittenger said he feels confident they’ll receive high-quality care from the team of professionals at YRMC.
“What I’ve seen in my experiences in New York City and Wisconsin, those guidelines are effective; they do protect people and they do save lives,” he said. “Prevention really is the best method. But if (patients) do end up coming through the doors of Yuma Regional Medical Center, they should have confidence that the people there are highly skilled and well trained and have wonderful technology available to give high-level care.”
According to Pittenger, it’s been an honor to be such an integral part of history in the making, however challenging it’s been.
“It’s such an honor to be part of something that is so important, and to think that we are mobilizing military nurses to take care of patients in a civilian environment like this and to be part of this organized response to save lives; it’s something I’m sure I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” he said.
He added that he’s grateful for the warm welcome his team has received not just from the hospital, but the city of Yuma at large.
“The hospital staff has been very gracious and very appreciative; at all levels, staff have been very welcoming to us,” he said. “If we’re out and about in uniform, the people of Yuma are very kind and very appreciative. Coming from far away (to serve in Yuma), that really says a lot to us. I’ve heard ‘Thank you for your service’ multiple times and it’s always very heartwarming.”
According to YRMC, the hospital has requested an extension of the Army Reserve’s 30-day mission and is awaiting a response signaling federal approval.