Live From The Kung Flu Lounge

Not my place, but close enough as makes no difference.

Just FTR, I wanted to give you an idea of what this is like:

Here's the computer monitor Big Board for where I am, within HIPPA constraints (i.e. I will be revealing no specific info identifiable to any specific patient, and have jumbled up order of rooms, etc.):

A) COVID Respiratory failure

B) CVA (stroke), COVID +

C) COVID, SOB(shortness of breath), hypoxia

D) COVID PNA (pneumonia), hypoxia

E) COVID hypoxia

F) Respiratory failure

G) COVID hypoxia

H) COVID PNA

I) COVID hypoxia, respiratory distress

J) COVID PNA

K) something else

L) PNA, respiratory distress

M) COVID PNA, hypoxia, respiratory failure

N) something else

3 of those (you'll never know which) are mine, and I have one empty bed.

There are a couple of other beds empty now, but staffing is also at the lowest for the night, and we have a full cardiac arrest inbound. So it's about to get busy. BusiER, actually. And I'm sneaking this post in, between my hourly tasks for my three relatively stable patients.

 1 of the 3 trauma patients we have is also COVID+, and unlike all the other rooms, we can't isolate them. Not physically possible.

We have furthermore put beds in every foot of hallway in the ED.

They're half-full now, but earlier there were patients in every bed.

We have turned the waiting room lobby into a new ward.

During peak hours, it was 80% occupied with non COVID patients, because it's the only place left to see regular patients..

Our cath lab and our surgery recovery unit are now holding areas for ER overflow, and they're full, which is another 10-15 patients who'd still be in the ER, because the ICU and the rest of the hospital are full, have been for days, and are now all virtually ICU, because when patients get worse, and get intubated, there's no room for them in ICU, so nurses who've never handled patients on a ventilator (normally an automatic ICU admission) are now HOCUS POCUS! POOF! Instant ICU nurses.

Really.

Our only remaining steps after this are to try and turn the hospital cafeteria into a ward, and/or to clear cars out of adjacent parking, and have the county or Notional Guard put in a pop-up hospital, except we have no staff for either plan.

The step after that is the doctors start deciding who comes inside and gets treated, and who stays outside with no treatment and takes their chances. No one wants to talk about that,  but the Christmas/New Year's peak still hasn't hit yet. Probably in a week or two, it will.

You're not dealing with that, wherever you are?

Splendiferous!

But nota bene, your day is probably coming.

Hopefully not, but hope ain't a plan.

Gotta go.