Community health worker helps COVID patient in distress
STAMFORD — Adriana Rosario knew something wasn’t right.
Rosario, a community health worker, had come to drop off food for her client, Stamford resident José López. López was recently diagnosed with COVID-19, and he seemed to be disoriented and experiencing shortness of breath.
After she asked him to put a pulse oximeter on his finger, she saw that his oxygen saturation level appeared to be very low. She quickly convinced him that they should call 911.
“In reality, you were an angel who arrived here,” López told Rosario in Spanish during an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media. “If it hadn't been for you, when you came and took my oxygen levels, I think I would have died.”
Stamford’s community health worker program is a partnership between nonprofit group Family Centers and the city’s health department. The health workers offer assistance to residents, especially members of underserved communities, who have contracted COVID-19.
Rosario contacted López after he was diagnosed, and he told her that he needed help getting food while he was in isolation. On Feb. 25, she notified López, who lives alone, that she would be coming by to drop off groceries and bottles of water.
“As I was arriving to his home, I was in contact with him, and I noticed that he had an altered mental status, he seemed a bit confused, and that can be a sign of hypoxia,” said Rosario, 20, a Norwalk Commu
nity College student. “So usually what we do is drop off these items in front of their door, but just with the fact that he seemed hesitant to go downstairs, I just offered to bring it up for him instead.”
She went up to the third floor of the apartment building carrying the supplies. She had also brought along a pulse oximeter — something she normally does for her clients.
“His door was open, so I did take a look at him and I noticed that he had some difficulty ambulating while he was walking to his kitchen. He seemed like he had shortness of breath,” Rosario said.
Rosario gave the small device — which measures oxygen saturation in a person’s blood — to López, and he placed it on his finger. Many individuals who have COVID-19 experience low oxygen levels, which can be deadly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“When he put it on, I just took a peek and I noticed that it was at 86 percent,” Rosario said. “And a normal result is usually 95 to 100 … So I definitely was a bit alarmed.”
She tried the device on López’s other fingers and on herself to make sure it was working properly. She then decided they needed to call an ambulance.
Rosario is a first-year student in Norwalk Community College’s nursing program. When she was helping López, who is 52, Rosario said used the patient assessment skills that she has learned in school.
That day, she explained to López that 86 percent was a low level, and he agreed to her calling 911.
“I think that's when he realized the situation because, previously, I think he was having some difficulty, but he was hesitant to go to the hospital,” Rosario said. “So I'm glad that I kind of urged him and just educated him about COVID and how that oxygen level can really affect the body and just how it works.”
When first responders arrived and López went downstairs with them, “that's when he completely declined,” Rosario said.
“He wasn't really able to speak anymore, just from going down the stairs,” she said. “His breathing was very rapid.”
The first responders didn’t speak Spanish, so Rosario continued talking to López and explained to him what would happen now that they had arrived.
Looking back, Rosario said she is happy she went inside and checked on López.
“If I didn't bring the pulse ox with me, or if I just left it at his doorstep … chronic hypoxia can lead to brain damage and decreased … cardiac muscle function,” Rosario said. “He could have maybe had an asthma attack or just — I really don't know exactly how long before … he could have just not been able to contact anyone.”
López was put on oxygen and spent several days in the hospital. During the interview with Hearst Connecticut Media, he told Rosario that he doesn’t recall being brought to the hospital or the initial part of his stay.
López also told her that he is still experiencing some weakness. López, who works as a cook at a restaurant in New Canaan, urged people to be cautious about their health.
“Really, what I want to say is a lot of people — we're irresponsible,” López said in Spanish. “But what we're dealing with now, the pandemic — it's real. It's not a game.”
“People need to monitor their health, especially with COVID, because he's only 52 and people don't think that things like this can happen, but it can,” Rosario added.
She has had about 30 clients since she started as a community health worker in late January. She said she learned about the job from an email she received through her school.
“I became interested when I realized the need for it, especially here in Stamford,” said Rosario, who lives in Norwalk. “I used to live here in Stamford, so I'm really familiar with this area. And when I was reading the posting, I felt like it was something that I want to get experience in and with my nursing school background, I could definitely apply that to community health work.”
Community outreach
The city’s community health worker program consists of five people, including a supervisor, Frank O’Driscoll. He said the program has so far helped 280 families — or a total of about 1,000 individuals.
The program launched in the fall, with a focus on assisting residents after they find out that they should quarantine or isolate.
“We were really concerned about people spreading the virus by just doing the things that they needed to get done in their daily lives, so that was kind of the genesis of the program,” O’Driscoll said. “As the pandemic has evolved … we've seen the needs kind of change over time.”
O’Driscoll explained that when contact tracers get in touch with people, and they indicate having urgent needs during quarantine, they are referred to the community health worker program.
It’s not just delivering groceries and other necessities. He said the program’s workers have also been helping clients get medical insurance, they check in on their clients’ mental health and the program even helped pay for families’ internet to ensure that children could do virtual learning.
O’Driscoll said “one of the pride points for the program” has been helping people facing the financial challenges that come with quarantine or isolation. Many clients, he noted, haven’t had the option of working from home.
“By the time they got to us — kind of in the October, November and beyond timeframe — they've already exhausted their savings,” he said. “And one of the things that I started to notice was looking at kind of the demographics of Stamford, there were a lot of people that were very young, who were supporting larger families. It wasn't just themselves that they were taking care of. They had this deep responsibility to their extended family that they lived with.”
The program was initially funded by a more than $200,000 grant from the Connecticut Health Foundation. The foundation, which aims to address racial and ethnic disparities in health care, also provided grants to health departments in Norwalk, Danbury, Bridgeport and Hartford.
O’Driscoll said the program received a $100,000 grant extension. A major part of its focus now is helping members of underserved communities get vaccinated and answering questions about the vaccine.
Rosario, who has been vaccinated, said she plans to help López sign up for a vaccine appointment once he is eligible.