Related
MIAMI (WSVN) - Special units inside Jackson Memorial Hospital are dedicated to taking care of those infected with coronavirus, and the doctors, nurses and patients there have a message for the public.
The number of COVID-19 positive patients is down compared to when South Florida experienced a summer surge in cases, but recently, the hospital has seen an uptick in the number of patients admitted into their special COVID-19 intensive care units.
On Wednesday, doctors and nurses inside of the unit said another surge is possible as the region enters flu season.
As soon as a 7News crew entered Jackson Memorial Hospital, they were covered head to toe in personal protective equipment. Once they put on a N-95 mask and another mask on top, they entered their first COVID-19 unit.
When asked to raise your hand if 2020 has been the most trying, difficult year of their career, all of the front line workers raised their hand in agreement.
These nurses are so covered in protective gear, they pin photos of themselves on their gowns so their colleagues can identify them.
This summer, they learned on the fly, as they found themselves on the front line of the pandemic.
Nurse Chris Polanco said it has been seven excruciating months.
“It’s like work never ends,” nurse Chris Polanco said. “You leave home, and you are still thinking about COVID. I’ll never forget just having patients look me in the eye and ask me, ‘Am going to die? Is today the day I am going to die?’ When you’re in the epicenter, and you’re holding someone’s mom’s hand, and she’s asking you, ‘Is this the day?’ And sometimes it was their day.”
There are deep lows but highs, as well.
On Wednesday, Chris joined his nursing team as they gave a round of applause to one COVID-19 patient cleared for discharge.
Now, the focus is treating the remaining patients, like 58-year-old Mario Martinez.
“It catches you in different ways where it makes you weak,” Martinez said.
He believes he transmitted the virus to his brother, who is being treated in the room next door.
“Put your mask on and be safe,” Martinez said. “Take care of your family.”
Next, 7News heads into a sealed off section, where more seriously ill patients are sent, and they meet the team of COVID-19 intensive care unit nurses.
“We all learned to adapt very quickly, and no one really knows what is to come,” nurse Carlos Gorostiza said. “We’re waiting for, preparing for a surge, God forbid, but now, given what we have been through these past six months, we’ll be prepared for anything that comes our way now.”
Inside the COVID ICU, 7News cannot show what the patients look like because of privacy reasons, but we do want you to know what they look like. They look almost lifeless. They are heavily sedated, so their body doesn’t fight the ventilator that they need to stay alive.
“If you are actually reaching the ICU, in which you need a ventilator and life support, basically, it ravages your body,” nurse Vanesa Vilar said.
Right now, the Jackson Heath System has 41 COVID positive patients in its ICUs. That’s up from 28 patients 10 days ago.
As South Florida opens up and pandemic fatigue sets in, the doctors and nurses who have seen firsthand how severe and deadly COVID-19 can be, there’s a bit of worry.
“We must be aware of what happened and cannot forget what happened,” ICU Dr. Rene Rico said. “We still need to be cautious because we still don’t have a vaccine.”
So the plea from inside South Florida’s busiest ICU: keep wearing the mask and stay socially distant.
When asked if another surge is possible, Vilar said, “Absolutely. Try to do all of those things, not for yourself, but for your family, for the community, for the restaurants and everything to keep them open.”
One of the senior nurses at the hospital said what worries her the most is that people can contract the flu and COVID-19 at the same time. It is possible in the near future the hospital could be treating patients who are suffering from both diseases.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.