Page 45 - RU Robert Wood Johnson Medicine • Summer 2020

providing health care to a community while in med- ical school has been helpful as we continue to do that now.
What drew you to emergency medicine?
Patients don’t necessarily come in to the emer- gency department with a label of what is wrong with them. You have to think critically and talk to and examine the patient to figure out what’s going on. There’s a very human aspect to emergency med- icine because people are coming in with a concern that we have to address. It’s very gratifying, in a real-time way.
What are your biggest concerns
as the number of COVID-19 diagnoses continues to climb in New Jersey?
I’m worried about personal protective equipment for health care workers, and I’m afraid we’re going to runoutofmasks.We’vegottenalotofsupplies from atypical supply chains; people are giving us what they have at home. I’m worried about space in
the hospital and whether we have enough beds and ventilators to treat patients. I’m worried about my own family.
I’m glad people in New Jersey have been so re- sponsive so far. It’s reassuring that people have been staying home, trying to limit their excursions, but I worry that people aren’t going to be able to keep it up for a long time.
What is the most important thing people can do to stay safe and keep others safe?
Wash their hands! It sounds so trite, but this is a droplet virus; it lives in spit. Hand hygiene has never been as important as it is now.
How do you de-stress?
Yoga and meditation help. My husband and I have alsobeentakingalotofwalksaroundtheneighbor- hood. I feel like all of our neighbors are doing this, more than in the past, because there’s nothing else
to do! But it’s been nice to chat with neighbors, from a distance.
Is there anything that feels unique about New Jersey’s situation to you?
I was a medical student when Hurricane Sandy happened, and I think this is a bit of an echo of that. New Jerseyans take care of each other, and they know what’s important. I’m feeling that same vibe now. We’re going to take care of each other. We’re going to get through this.
Robert M. Eisenstein, MD, associate professor and chair of emergency medicine, shares: “Dr. Patti has risen to the challenge and completely revamped the emergency medicine clerkship in the wake of COVID-19 to ensure that the medical students continue to receive the high-quality education she has always provided. She has been a true asset to ourdepartmentinallaspectsofourmission.” M
—Reprinted from the spring issue of
Rutgers Magazine.
New York City to Fight COVID-19
intensive care unit (ICU). The extension ICU is a regular floor with critical care patients—almost all, if not all, on ventilators. Patients are as sick as can be, teetering on the brink of dying. None of us are critical care specialists—we are orthopedists, CRNAs (certified registered nurse anesthetists), plastic surgeons, and general surgeons. We do have some backup from the medical and critical care physicians, but a lot of it is on-the-job training. Fortunately, two of us on separate teams had critical care training “back in the day,” mine being in my trauma fellowship. The unit is turned over to us, and we are in the fight.
Patients are on ventilators, all of them are on
vasopressors to deal with low blood pressure, and many of them require dialysis. They are all heavily sedated and require intensive care, which is being given in regular patient rooms—battle- field conditions. In order to examine the patients, you have to wear a head covering, plastic gown, gloves, and goggles or a face shield, along with N-95 masks covered by a regular surgical mask. It’s like getting ready for deep space exploration.
You enter the room, cramped and stuffy, and examine the patient, make vent changes or what- ever needs to be done, and exit. The monitors are placed near the door of the rooms so the nurses don’t have to get all geared up to check the vital
signs. There are no visitors; they are not allowed in the hospital. We make daily calls to the fami- lies to give updates. Patients die surrounded by strangers who have desperately tried to save them. The frustration for those of us caring for the patients is enormous and exhausting. We do the best we can. Resources are stretched thin, although there is enough protective gear.
As always, I am proud to be part of our military, proud to serve and do my part. No one does these deployments alone. I am grateful to my partners and office, my friends and family, and especially my wife for their support and concerns. M
— Semper fi, Joe
Robert Wood Johnson | MEDICINE 43