A N.Y. Nurse Dies. Angry Co-Workers Blame a Lack of Protective Gear | Hacker News Reader

A N.Y. Nurse Dies. Angry Co-Workers Blame a Lack of Protective Gear

nytimes.com

39 pointsfortran7715 comments

Some research the Helpful Engineering group did a couple of weeks ago included an interview with a doctor who claimed that Covid had less than 1% mortality, but that health care workers had about 4% because of how heavily they are exposed to it (source is a google doc in the slack group).

Every health care worker deserves a massive, massive bonus this year for sticking their necks out for us all

Does this account for age? If not, it’s more than a 4x risk multiplier since few health care workers are 80+.

Many formerly retired doctors/nurses are coming out of retirement, at least in New York. And most retirees are firmly in the danger zone for COVID-19.

I’ve read it’s because of viral load which is correlated with exposure.

A few important notes for those who skip TFA and come straight to the comments:

> The nurse ... said Mr. Kelly had not used protective equipment, even though he regularly helped nurses on his team with hands-on care.

> ... an outside consultant ... said she last saw Mr. Kelly at work the week of March 9, interacting with patients and hospital staff, wearing neither a mask nor any protective gear.

Its also important to note that there wasn't enough protective equipment.

> “I’m also very angry with the Mount Sinai Health System for not protecting him. We do not have enough PPE, we do not have the correct PPE, and we do not have the appropriate staffing to handle this pandemic. And I do not appreciate representatives of this health system saying otherwise on the news.”

> In an email, a hospital spokeswoman, Lucia Lee, disputed the claim that the hospital had not furnished protective equipment to its staff. “This crisis is straining the resources of all New York area hospitals, and while we do — and have had — enough protective equipment for our staff, we will all need more in the weeks ahead,” Ms. Lee said in the statement.

We all know that PPE is a major problem, but the New York Times article left so many unanswered questions. Some of them are listed:

1. All nursing staff should have their temperatures recorded at least at start and end of shift. Did this nurse maintain such a temperature log? 2. When did he start to show symptoms? 3. The article stated the he had asthma. Was he self-medicating with albuterol and / or steroids? 4. When did he go on the ventilator? 5. Did he develop pneumonia? 6. What exactly was the cause of death? 7. Should we allow people with underlying respiratory problems to work in this environment?

Also germane: https://www.vox.com/2020/3/26/21192191/coronavirus-us-new-yo....

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22693706

This man was a very fit 48 year old, who had trained as a dancer before he became a nurse. Unusual and it shows that Coronavirus is different from other virus-related respiratory infections.

https://data.ibtimes.sg/en/full/35116/kious-kelly.jpg

>> His sister said he had asthma but was otherwise well.

yes, this article left off the word "severe", but other articles did not editorialize that way.

The article I read said he had severe asthma.

"very fit" - not from a purely medical perspective. He had a pre-existing and related respiratory condition - asthma

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