The coronavirus epidemic hits the United States with full severity – especially the state of New York. In New York City alone, at least 3,200 people died from the lung disease Covid-19 – more than in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. A paramedic who has been working in New York City for 17 years reports how dramatic his everyday work is as a result of the epidemic has changed.
Anthony Almojera, Senior Paramedic New York Fire Department
“You have to keep in mind that we still all have 911 calls too. People keep getting heart attacks and strokes and falling down stairs and so on. It’s really a challenge. I worked 16 hours yesterday and had thirteen cardiac arrests. That is a lot of death. Most of us are pretty good at dealing with death, that’s the nature of this job, we sort of deal with it, but …
I don’t know if any of us will ever be the same again. We have to deal with that somehow. Many medical professionals and rescue workers who saw this will be traumatized. If you get this firsthand, be at the forefront … The challenge will be how we can process all of this mentally.
Usually we can be closer to people. I can put my hand on her shoulder or give consolation, or the doctors and rescue workers do that. Comfort the living when we can’t save anyone. But we have to keep our distance in this pandemic. In a house where someone dies or has the virus or becomes short of breath because of it, everyone in the house is most likely to have the virus. And we have to somehow protect our own health. This does not allow us to have the personal contact that we normally have. And that’s even more difficult because you want to be there for people. As a paramedic you have … I don’t know where it is, but somewhere in there is a memory of empathy that we can tap into in order to be there for people. But this pandemic is starting to empty that reservoir. “
The number of deaths in the US has risen to more than 12,700, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Only in Italy and Spain have more people died from the novel corona virus.
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