The pandemic has been traumatic and emotionally taxing for hospital workers throughout the country, as many have faced grueling hours, dying patients, and the constant danger of a novel, highly contagious virus.
Brigham and Women’s pulmonologist and critical care physician Dr. Daniela Lamas wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times titled, “I’m a Critical Care Doctor. I’m Tired. I’m Mourning. I’m Bracing for More,” where she laid out the hardships she has faced while fighting COVID-19.
“At home, a cough could send me into a panic that lasted for hours. I sprinted on my treadmill to prove to myself that my exercise tolerance was unchanged, that I was safe. I still do, on occasion,” she wrote.
Lamas told Jim Braude on WGBH New’s Greater Boston Thursday that working on the frontlines during the pandemic has not been easy for her and her co-workers.
“I think for us, it has been hard, and what makes this different than the deaths that we often see, which are always tragic, that these are deaths or near deaths of people who were by and large fine, living their lives,” she said. “That feeling of impudence, fear, and coupled with it, real legitimate fear of, I too could get this, is different than anything we’ve seen before.”
In her piece, Lamas warned that while numbers are going down in some states and COIVD-19 patients are leaving hospital beds, the virus is still a serious threat.
“These empty beds remind us that the virus is still here, and if we do not stay far from one another and wear our masks and wash our hands, if we do not continue to sacrifice our desires and do these uncomfortable things, the beds will inevitably fill again. And if they do, we will be more prepared.”
