Doctor Colleen Smith recently shared a video of what really is going on inside a New York City hospital at the epicenter of the United States COVID-19 outbreak. Dr. Smith is an emergency room doctor at the Elmhurst Hospital located in New York City.
As of March 26th, the state of New York has had over 33,000 tested and confirmed cases of COVID-19. The death toll has risen to over 360 in just New York alone.
Dr. Smith shares her frustrations in the regards to the lack of preparation that took place, knowing that the virus was a serious matter in other countries, prior to arriving in the United States. A lack of medical supplies, such as masks, protective gear and ventilators is something that the hospital is continuing to deal with — despite being told that those supplies are on the way. The hospitals most recent shipment of ventilators totaled five.
The video goes on to show a refrigerated semi-truck backed up to the loading dock of the hospital, where bodies of the deceased are being kept as there is no place to bring the infected at this time.
Dr. Smith states that many people in the hospital show signs of COVID-19, including medical staff, but they are unable to get tested due to the lack of tests. In addition, the lack of protective medical supplies is also causing medical staff to continuously be exposed to the virus. Thus, causing staff to contract the virus and turn ill — as many of the medical have.
Dr. Smith also made mention that she puts on one N-95 protective mask on in the morning and the is forced to use that same mask throughout the entire day. In fact, she is forced to reuse the same mask, for multiple days.
The hospital is adapting as fast it possibly can, even setting up a large tent outside for mildly sick patients.
Dr. Smith claims that the people coming in to the hospital appear to be sicker than normal. Dr. Smith also states that many of the young people between the ages of 30-50 being seriously affected by COVID-19 do not smoke and are in good overall health.
FEMA is expected to be bringing more supplies to the hospitals in New York, but Dr. Smith says there have been a lot of promises that have yet to materialize in the E.R..
In closing, Dr. Smith wants to the let it be known that this situation is very bad, people are dying and they simply do not have the tools they need to properly treat patients and save lives.