One Night in the ICU: Alberta Healthcare Workers Share the Reality of COVID-19 Patient Care – Edmonton | The Canadian News

A doctor and respiratory therapist are detailing a night in an Edmonton ICU during the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Raiyan Chowdhury is an intensive care specialist at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

He finished his shift at the ICU just hours before an interview Friday with Global News.

“The typical story (for a COVID-19 patient) is: his symptoms started one day ago… seven days ago.

“They are trying to cope at home, but things got so bad, like shortness of breath, that they came to the emergency department. From there, it’s pretty fast. “

Chowdhury said that the COVID-19 patients he’s seeing during the fourth wave are younger and deteriorating more quickly while in the hospital.

“Within 12 hours they need [five times] your oxygen level. Then, very quickly, they put him on life support, ”he said. “When we put someone on life support, we sedate them and often we have to paralyze them. Then they follow all kinds of invasive procedures. “

For example, Chowdhury said a patient Thursday night needed a “cardiopulmonary bypass.”

“That means we are putting huge hoses on people’s necks to oxygenate their blood,” he said. “They have never had interaction with the health system before and now they face death in their 20s and 30s. That is heartbreaking. “

The doctor said that many of the procedures are “torturous.”

“We stop caring for people when it has become useless. When (someone is on a respirator) and you’re doing that to them and there’s no improvement and continued decline, you run into a moral dilemma. Should you keep doing this to someone if you know you can’t get by? “

During Chowdhury’s shift, a man in his 40s with COVID-19 had to be placed back on a ventilator after being recently removed from it. He said that before the hospital staff did that, they asked him if the patient wanted to see his parents.

“He said, ‘I don’t want them to come in. They could be exposed and they are older people. ‘

Instead, the patient sent a text message to his family. Chowdhury said the man detailed his funeral rights to his parents, apologized for putting them in this situation and thanked them for giving him a wonderful life.

Cara Moffat often starts her shift in ICU with a broken heart.

The registered respiratory therapist said she recently spent most of her shift with a young mother who would eventually die of COVID-19 after spending days in care.

“It is a great regret on the part of the patients. I would say that most patients regret not having been vaccinated, ”Moffat said. “It is like Russian roulette. Maybe your friend didn’t get sick. Maybe your uncle had a mild case of COVID. But for you? You do not know “.

Both Chowdhury and Moffat urge Albertans to get vaccinated.

“No one that I know who is vaccinated in the hospital has required any significant intervention on my part as an intensive care physician. That’s the reality, ”Chowdhury said.

Moffat said it is difficult to convey to Albertans how dire this situation is, because most have not had to be admitted to ICU.

“We are seeing things that outsiders do not see. Let us be your witness. Let us tell you what is really happening, ”Moffat said.

“I hope Albertans hear these stories. They see that the situation worsens and then they go out and get vaccinated ”.