Alberta doctors, nurses redeployed to COVID-19 units and ICUs share what its like on the inside
CBC
Dr. Debakanta Jena had heard stories from the front lines of Alberta's COVID-19 units, but it wasn't until the Medicine Hat orthopedic surgeon volunteered to work there, at the end of September, that he fully understood.
"The first day I went in, I realized I had been chief of surgery for four years, I've attended many COVID meetings — [I] kind of know what's going on but really did not know until I got into the unit how intense and how soul-crushing the situation was," he said.
That feeling of intensity, according to Jena, was sparked by the volume of patients coming in needing high amounts of oxygen, the pace at which doctors, nurses and other health-care providers were working to care for them and the raw emotion of the front-line staff.
"You could see that they're making quick, real-time decisions that will suddenly change someone's life. Should they go to ICU? Will they survive in ICU? Can the person's goal of care be changed? Can the family come in?" he said.
Jena, who has worked in a supportive role for a handful of shifts on the COVID-19 unit, said he was struck by the pure dedication of his colleagues.
He was also struck by how sick the patients are when they arrive on the unit.
"The last time I probably listened to the lungs is a long time back.… But I absolutely was shocked to know how bad the lungs were damaged, how sick people looked. And the fear in people's eyes. You could see the fear when they came in."