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Publication Date

6-1-2025

Document Type

Comment

Abstract

This Comment is not intended to patronize you with statistics related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The odds suggest that you or someone you love dealt with these gruesome realities in real-time. Instead, allow me to paint a picture:1 You direct hospital operations. You have built your career at a trauma hospital, so you are familiar with the stress that comes with a daily ratio of six patients to one nurse—and yet, COVID-19 brings constantly evolving challenges that no one anticipated. On a typical day, during the height of the pandemic, your consecutive twelve-hour workdays become a blur as you and your staff tackle any combination of the following challenges: find more hospital beds for the increasing volume of patients. Find more personal protective equipment (PPE)2 for your staff and, when these resources become too scarce, develop and implement policies to sanitize and reuse PPE. Intubate3 critical care patients. Anticipate the number of ventilators4 necessary to intubate infected patients and keep them breathing. Keep them breathing. Balance the personal freedoms of your beloved staff with masking and vaccination mandates. Inform families that they cannot visit their hospitalized loved ones because of a policy intended to prevent the virus from spreading. Care for their loved ones as if they were your own family. Hold their hands while they take their final breaths.

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