COVID-19: Voices From the Community
Recognizing the importance of staying connected with the community, our CHEST frontline clinicians share their experiences and plans for the future as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY BLOG
By: Jennifer LaCoss, MD
Published: January 4, 2021
With hospitals prohibiting visitors and many patients with COVID-19 unable to communicate with their care teams, it has become more difficult to learn about the people we are caring for—who they are and what makes them unique. As clinicians navigate this changed landscape, we must find new ways to create connections with our patients.
By: Rosa Cordovilla, MD, PhD
Published: December 29, 2020
When a doctor contracted COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic, she realized just how fine the line separating clinicians from patients really is—and that her job was about much more than simply knowing how to make a diagnosis or offer a treatment.
By: John Hunninghake, MD, and Jeff DellaVolpe, MD
Published: November 25, 2020
The demand for ECMO therapy has exponentially increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. What does it take to expand an ECMO program in these circumstances? Teamwork, coordination, and...a playbook.
By: Farrukh Abbas, MBBS; Kadambari Vijaykumar, MD; Navitha Ramesh, MD, MBBS, FCCP; and Allen Blaivas, DO, FCCP (on behalf of the CHEST Airways Disorders NetWork)
Published: November 23, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic led to increased risks in patients with COPD and created challenges in caring for this patient population. There is a dire need for the establishment of effective virtual programs and inclusive care.
By: Kevin Swiatek, DO
Published: November 12, 2020
As COVID-19 cases rise across the country, clinicians will need to prepare for even more challenges. But it seems that this next wave will be different than the first.
By: Mauricio Danckers, MD, FCCP
Published: November 2, 2020
Since the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, our trainees have been provided with a unique opportunity to learn and manage a novel disease, along with a firsthand look at how our health-care system can adapt to new challenges. The relationship between mentees and mentors has never been more important than during these unusual learning times.
By: Sarah Tapyrik, MD, FCCP
Published: October 26, 2020
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical students were thrown into a world of uncertainty, with delayed exams and rescheduled rotations. But these unique challenges could add to their resilience and problem-solving abilities moving forward.
By: Michael Harrison, MD, PhD, MPH; Devang Sanghavi, MD, MHA, FCCP; Klaus Torp, MD; Jorge Mallea, MD; and Pablo Moreno Franco, MD, FCCP
Published: October 1, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic surged, clinicians faced challenges in providing respiratory support for critically ill patients. One team came up with an innovative, yet inexpensive and easy solution that helped prevent the need for intubation purely for hypoxia.
By: Matthew C. Miles, MD, MEd, FCCP
Published: September 21, 2020
A young patient with COVID-19 was not improving after weeks of treatment—so the hospital took extraordinary efforts to allow his mother to safely visit. The experience showed one physician the healing power of a family’s love.
By: Holly Keyt, MD, FCCP
Published: September 18, 2020
As COVID-19 has spread across the world, there has been concern that people with cystic fibrosis may have more severe infections due to the novel virus, similar to 2009 with the H1N1 influenza pandemic.
COMMUNITY VIDEOS
Critical: Coronavirus in Intensive Care
A new documentary features the experiences of ICU staff on the COVID-19 front lines at Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, Wales. The area was one of the United Kingdom’s coronavirus hotspots, with more cases per capita than anywhere outside London. Filmed by CHEST member Tamas Szakmany, MD, PhD, and his colleagues on mobile phones and small cameras, the film provides first-person perspectives on the challenges and successes faced during the first month of the coronavirus crisis.
Gretchen R. Winter, MD
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL
"Check in with your friends. Check in with your co-workers, and check in with anyone around you—because we all need help right now."
Salman Ali, MBBS
Liaquat National Hospital
Karachi, Pakistan
"As the lockdown and restrictions eased up, the influx of patients has increased significantly."
Video Archives
S M Abdullah Al Mamun, MD, MBBS, FCCP
Evercare Hospitals
Dhaka, Bangladesh
"Because of our suspicion from the very beginning, we treated [the patient] as a case of COVID-19, and all the proper precautions were taken...fortunately, none of us are positive."
Sabiha Raoof, MBBS, FCCP
Medisys Health Network
Queens, NY
"I want to thank all those physicians who have shown their interest in coming to New York, volunteering here, and helping our physicians."
Vincent Gould, APRN-BC
UT Health San Antonio
San Antonio, TX
"A lot of us have fears related to possibly bringing a COVID transmission home, as we're aware of these asymptomatic carriers that can happen for up to 14 days."
Nneka O. Sederstrom, PhD, MPH, MA, FCCP
Children's Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN
"We know that some of our populations that are socioeconomically disadvantaged that are the result of institutional and systemic racism mean that they will be getting COVID more prevalently and worse. So how do we try and address those kinds of issues?"
Ihtzaz Bashir Chaudary, III, MBBS
Aziz Bhatti Teaching Hospital
Gujrat, Pakistan
"What I have experienced...is that the severity of disease is not as reported in the US and Europe, like in Italy, France, and Germany. I have seen a different pattern of disease."
Candace A Huebert, MD, FCCP
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, Nebraska
"I've seen terrific collaboration in every aspect of the medical system, in terms of working with other divisions—infectious disease, other departments. Critical care/anesthesia has been a terrific collaborator, as have the surgical services."
Steven Q. Simpson, MD, FCCP
CHEST President-Elect and COVID-19 Task Force Chair
KU Medical Center
Kansas City, Kansas
"Of course, many people in my group look at me and say, you're an old man, you're at high risk, so you should probably stay out of here. I don't know—this is what we signed up for, I think."