Anne Arundel adds 52 new cases
BWMC nurses recount working on front lines in coronavirus fight
Nurses caring for severe COVID-19 patients at the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center this spring were emotionally and physically drained.
With elective surgery and other outpatient departments at the Glen Burnie hospital closed to prevent the virus’ spread, DenisePoland, a veteran nurse of 41years at the hospital, shot up her hand to volunteer.
“As soon as that’s an option — I was gone,” said Poland, a Brooklyn Park resident. “I know I couldn’t sit at home and watchmy coworkers drown.”
The number of patients in the hospital for COVID-19 has dropped significantly since the pandemic first grippedMaryland in March and April, a time when doctors and nurses outfitted in personal protective equipment were fighting a highly contagious virus they had never seen before.
Clinicians now have a better handle on the disease process as different drug treatments and plasma therapies have proven successful in improving the condition of some hospitalized patients.
There are currently 12 people in the ICU and22 people inacute care atAnneArundel County’s two main hospitals, BWMC and Anne A run del Medical Center, compared to a peak 49 ICU patients and 138 acute care patients in mid-April and earlyMay.
As Anne Arundel County adds 52 new coronavirus cases and no deaths Friday, Poland is bracing to be called back from the cardiac catheterization lab and into the COVID-19 ward on the sixth floor in the event of a secondwave of cases this fall.
An unnerving uptick in COVID-19 cases makes for an apprehensive start to the flu season. Fall and winter are a hospital’s busiest season with an influx in patients battling other respiratory ills such as flu and pneumonia.
Anne Arundel County is averaging a seven-day case rate of 12 cases per 100,000 people. Health department officials say any rate over five cases per 100,000 people is not manageable for their team of 55 contact tracers. Virus-positive people could fall through the cracks and unknowingly spread the COVID-19 throughout the community.
Numbers released Friday morning show the county now has 9,504 confirmed cases and 231 deaths. Another 11 peoplemay have died from the disease, but a lab test was never performed. Maryland nowhas119,062 confirmed cases and 3,724 deaths.
Around 90% of BWMC’s 24 ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients during the pandemic’s peak and additional rooms, including part of the emergency department, were transformed into smaller ICUs, Poland said. Patients on a ventilator with low blood oxygen are often flipped on their stomachs in a prone position to increase oxygen supply. The procedure requires six staff members.
Among the staff moved into the ICU during during the throes of the pandemic was Roland’s niece Regina Nicoli, a 21-yearold patient care technician at BWMC in her last year of nursing school at Stevenson University.
At the end of every shift change, medical staff members would thank one another for their support and for helping each other’s patients. The camaraderie made an initially nerve-racking situation into an invaluable learning experience, Nicoli, a Pasadena resident, said.
Nicoli, who is finishing her nursing degree online, was inspired by her aunt to become a nurse. The two supported one another at the hospital and at home through the pandemic’s surge. Poland and Nicoli said they are prepared to jump back into COVID-19 care in the future if needed.
“We have these patients in isolation and they have this virus that no one really knows about so we have to be there emotionally for them and be there emotionally for our coworkers too,” Nicoli said.
Statewide, 347 people are currently hospitalized with 84 patients in the ICU and 263 patients in acute care.
Across Maryland, at least 2,324,252 tests have been conducted, an increase of more than 24,000 in the last 24 hours, bringing the statewide seven-day average rate of positive cases to 3.21%. Anne Arundel’s rate of positive cases is 3.96%.
Shady Side (20764): 33 (36)
Tracys Landing (20779): 10 (10)
West River (20778): 23 (23)