The vast majority of critically ill COVID-19 patients at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva are not vaccinated. For nurses Miri Shem-Ad and Maysoon Makladeh, it is painful to witness an often preventable tragedy as patients die of the virus.
The two nurses gave television interviews to Channel 12 on Saturday, where they testify to the regrets of those who have chosen not to be vaccinated, and recount their own frustrations at a certain population who seem to refuse to take the pandemic seriously. In progress.
“I don’t know if people know what a person looks like when they are like a fish out of water. Their eyes pop out of their sockets as they try to breathe in more oxygen, but the oxygen doesn’t come in, ”Shem-Ad said in an attempt to describe the suffering of coronavirus patients with severe symptoms.
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“I lose an average of two patients per shift… They get up to go to the bathroom thinking they are ready to go home and suddenly their lungs collapse and they have no more air”, he said. she declared.
Most are not vaccinated.
“I have great frustration because I know for sure that if they had been vaccinated they would not have reached such a state,” says Makladeh, referring to one of his unvaccinated patients who now suffers from organ failure.
Nurse Maysoon Makladeh from Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva. (Screen capture: Channel 12)
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“I pray for him, we continue to give him everything, but now there is a way to prevent this. It hurts me that people don’t take advantage of it, ”she said.
This is a view shared by Shem-Ad, who asserted that their frustration does not affect the treatment the unvaccinated receive.
“When I see a woman my age who needs to be hooked up to oxygen, my heart goes with her, whether or not she’s vaccinated,” she said.
She recounted how another patient begged her not to leave him alone as the end neared.
“We fought to save him for a few days, but in the end he realized his time had come. He grabbed me and pulled me closer and said, ‘Don’t leave me alone’. “
“For a long time, I stroked his forehead and repeated over and over to him: ‘You are not alone, I am with you, everything is fine’,” she said. “I repeated it until he closed his eyes. “
Nurse Miri Shem-Ad from Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva. (Screen capture: Channel 12)
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After a period where daily new cases fell to less than 100 and even less than 10 a day, Israel has faced a resurgence in infections since June, which sees morbidity reaching its highest level in months.
Nurses said the majority of seriously ill people were not vaccinated and often expressed deep regret.
“A woman came to see us after giving birth. She and her husband were not vaccinated. She said she felt like she got screwed [par les anti-vax]. They got us well. ‘ They had seen all of these videos and really thought they were making the right choice, ”Shem-Ad said.
Nurses monitor patients in the coronavirus ward at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva. (Screen capture: Channel 12)
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“We see a big difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated. This morning again, a 49-year-old man, lucid, independent, hardworking, married, father of two children – a healthy, strong man – who made the personal choice not to be vaccinated; and today his body betrayed him, ”said Makladeh
“He couldn’t breathe anymore. He couldn’t talk to us anymore. Two minutes before putting him on a ventilator, we had a brief conversation to get his approval. He said: ‘I was wrong’. He understood it, but I’m afraid it’s too late. “
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