July 1, 2021 — For New Yorkers, March 11 to Might 2, 2020, was most undoubtedly the worst time of the pandemic.
Practically 19,000 individuals died of COVID-19 in New York Metropolis throughout these weeks, which interprets to over 350 deaths per day and multiple demise each 5 minutes. Nobody skilled the chaotic early days of the pandemic greater than town’s important employees, together with these on the entrance traces at Mount Sinai Hospital.
And, in The Surge at Mount Sinai, a documentary streaming on discovery+ as we speak, you’ll be transported into the hospital’s intensive care models and meet a number of sufferers hospitalized early on, in addition to the heroic Mount Sinai ICU docs, nurses, and assist workers.
To learn how his workers is doing and what he thought in regards to the movie, we interviewed David L. Reich, MD, president of Mount Sinai, one of many nation’s largest and most overwhelmed well being care programs, through Zoom. Learn on for his ideas on COVID-19, the documentary, and what worries him most proper now.
WebMD: When do you know we have been in hassle with this virus?
Reich: Late February. I’m lucky to be linked with colleagues in Italy, and the messages of desperation began coming via throughout that point. It was very horrifying. They defined that this isn’t only a respiratory virus and that it overwhelms hospitals and workers. They advised me to attempt to be prepared.
WebMD: The movie actually delves into the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) your crew continues to be feeling. How a lot are you specializing in this as we speak?
Reich: We’re blessed to have Dr. Dennis Charney because the dean of the Icahn Faculty of Drugs at Mount Sinai. He’s an professional in resilience, and he jumped on this as a result of these points are foremost on our minds. We just lately created the Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth to assist our workers get better. This virus was like a struggle, and we all know from PTSD associated to wartime that PTSD has phases and may final a very long time. The toughest issues for our workers was the worry that they might be contaminated or deliver the an infection dwelling. Then there was the truth that, with this virus, our sufferers have been dying alone with out relations current. The workers stepped in, doing FaceTime with relations who have been saying goodbye. Our chaplains couldn’t be within the hospital so, if the households requested it, the workers, particularly our nurses, stated prayers in the intervening time of demise. We have been a surrogate for these households who couldn’t be there on the most critically emotional second in life, which is if you lose a beloved one. To step in at that second was one thing that modified all of us without end.
