뉴저지 이머전시 모습들 담은 사진입니다. "It`s really hard right now"
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Jim Abaze adjusts his respirator as he gets ready in the emergency room. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Editor's note: Some of the following reporting and photographs were originally used in NJ.com's 24 Hours in Crisis project. This story is an extension of that undertaking. Read the full project here.
Dr. Gregory Sugalski doesn’t sleep much these days.
He thinks about the war he witnessed in Afghanistan, as a field medic in 2012, and the one he’s fighting now, every day inside Hackensack University Medical Center.
“A lot of our patients are dying,” says Sugalski, chief of quality and patient safety in the emergency medicine department. “It’s just really hard right now.”
EMT's bring a patient to the emergency room at Hackensack University Medical Center. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Sugalski’s team appears tired on the morning of April 21, and who can blame them — they have been battling the coronavirus nonstop since the first COVID-19 patient in New Jersey was treated at the center on March 4. It since has cared for over 1,700 coronavirus patients — more than any other New Jersey hospital.
In the early morning, not even the birds chirp outside the entrance to the E.R., where a sign reminds all entrants to wear a mask.
It’s eerily quiet, considering all the bustle inside the hospital: the emergency room is crowded with 25 patients believed to have COVID-19 and deeper in the facility, the ICU houses 170 patients, with 140 on ventilators.
One of the patients is a HUMC worker.
Jim Abaze and nurse Nicole Kilgallen embrace in the emergency room entrance. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
“When you are caring for somebody you know, you’re experiencing a different level of anxiety and pressure and fear,” says Sugalski.
A supplementary emergency trailer was used during the initial surge in March, in addition to two more tents erected to handle the high volume of patients just outside, said Mary Jo Layton, director of executive communication and media relations.
Thankfully, coronavirus hospitalizations have begun to decline.
Tent outside the emergency room entrance to give extra capacity in case the number of patients rapidly increases. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
“We have made so much progress in the last two weeks by consistently discharging more patients than we are admitting each day,’’ said Mark Sparta, president and chief executive officer of Hackensack University Medical Center, noting the facility has discharged more than 1,100 patients and ICU volumes have declined by more than 25 percent.
And the staffers try to bring some levity to the situation when the can.
Nicole Kilgallen wears her scrubs extra short so she can show off the fun socks for which she’s known. This day, they are green with koala bears.
Emergency room entrance. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The virus has caused Kilgallen to switch shifts and when she sees Jim Abaze, a patient technician, they embrace. It’s been a long time.
Soon after, Abaze stands at the door to E.R., waiting.
An ambulance pulls up, a pair of EMTs emerge and wheel out a patient, who despite not being treated for COVID-19 is still temperature-checked before being carted inside. Non-coronavirus patient visits to the emergency room are down dramatically but the front-line workers can’t be too careful.
Emergency room entrance with a patient at Hackensack University Medical Center. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The morning goes on, another routine day amid a crisis that now feels all too familiar.
But Sugalski is haunted by the terrifying question that keeps popping into his mind: When is the second wave coming?
“I’m still worried,” Sugalski says, “about another spike.”
Matthew Stanmyre contributed to this report.
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Ed Murray may be reached at emurray@njadvancemedia.com.
Dr. Gregory Sugalski adjusts his mask at emergency room entrance. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Reshema Edwards and Jim Abazi walk out the emergency room. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Emergency room entrance waiting for an ambulance. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Staff check out one of three tents set up outside used to receive patients. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Nicole Kilgallen, RN outside the emergency room. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Nicole Kilgallen, RN who is known for her fun socks. This pair is decorated with koala's. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Outside the emergency room entrance. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Nurse Nicole Kilgallen embraces tech Jim Abaze. They used to work on the same shift but she was switched due to the virus. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Protective gear in the emergency room. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Hospital tech Andrea Delbert adjusts her respirator. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Dr. Gregory Sugalski comes out of the emergency room entrance. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Ambulance brings a patient to the emergency room. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Nicole Kilgallen, RN at Hackensack University Medical Center. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
작성일2020-05-07 17:29
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