![]() ![]() ![]() She has had patients stay in her care for as short as a few days and as long as a few months. Quiambao's medical intensive care unit has 30 beds, most of which are dedicated to COVID-19 patients in varying stages of the disease. Once that started happening, I knew I needed to do everything I could to support her and the people at my place of employment,” Chase said. “My wife's facility was hit pretty hard, and just out of fear, half the people quit, so she was there working 16-plus hours a day. Chase helped seal doors in the COVID-19 ward at Dell Seton. But when he heard from wife, who is a nurse in a long-term care facility, about patients suffering from the disease, he wanted to do all he could to help in the fight. Initially, he didn’t think the coronavirus would become such a destructive pandemic. “I've seen very seasoned physicians, myself not excluded, have to really grapple with, ‘Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Am I keeping myself and my family safe? Am I being selfish by doing X, Y, or Z?’”Ĭhris Chase, 48, who is a locksmith for the hospital, didn’t hesitate to continue working through the pandemic. ![]() “Initially, a few of us found garage apartments or other places we could go and isolate ourselves because we didn't want to take this home,” Steinour said of him and his fellow physicians. Hugs from his children upon entering the door was no longer allowed until he washed. His routine upon getting home after work was stripping his scrubs in the garage, scrubbing his shoes with cleaners and immediately showering once he entered his home. He didn’t accept the possibility that he could die from the virus and did all that he could to prevent its spread to his family. Steinour had a long discussion with his wife about the possibility of being exposed to the virus while on the job. More: FORTIFYING THE FRONT LINE: Hundreds of retired Texas nurses, doctors ask to return to work "I wanted my boyfriend to be that person just because my mom also works in the hospital and she's seen what diseases can do, so I feel like I couldn't do that to her." ![]() "The pandemic has brought a lot of heavy topics like death and what do I want to do or who can I designate," Quiambao said. She discussed with her boyfriend her plan if she were to get sick or even die. As a member of the hospital's infectious disease response unit, she traveled to San Antonio to care for passengers from a Princess cruise ship that became a hot spot for the disease.Īs COVID-19 patients started to fill Austin hospital beds in the late spring, she focused her attention on preparing for the worse, not only for her patients but also herself. Her first foray into treating coronavirus patients came in February before the disease arrived in Austin. The journey to the vaccine for health care workers has been a series of arduous decisions, personally and professionally.įascinated by microbiology and the movie "Contagion," Quiambao has always been interested in treating those with infectious diseases. "But this has been tough." Personal versus professional obligations "I like to think emergency medicine physicians are about the toughest as you could get when it comes to dealing with a wide variety of patients and pace, and complexity of death and life," Steinour said. Total number of ED visits who were seen on the previous calendar day who had a visit related to COVID-19 (meets suspected or confirmed definition or presents for COVID diagnostic testing – do not count patients who present for pre-procedure screening).The vaccines come as hundreds of health care workers across the country have died from COVID-19, including an estimated 120 in Texas, according to Kaiser Health News and the Guardian, which are documenting the deaths.Īscension Seton would not say how many staff members have caught COVID-19 while on the job.Īccording to Nicholas Steinour, emergency department director for Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin, a few of his colleagues have contracted the disease but recovered from it. ![]()
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