'We're doing everything we can, but this virus, it just kind of seems to hit the whole body unlike anything we've ever seen before.' Some 740 medical and support troops have put their usual work on hold to help COVID-19 patients.
in four community hospitals across southern Texas took a bit of their fleeting free time to share tales of grit, pride and perseverance from inside the COVID wards with ABC News.Soldiers from the 627th Hospital Center out of Fort Carson, Colorado, were the first troops to reach Texas.
"They've been super willing to teach us their systems and kind of how they do things," Whitehouser said.And the service members have been able to share some of their experience as military health care providers in kind. "The nurses can coordinate that and actually bring a phone, an iPad, into the patient's room," Jette-Kelly said, though it is still very difficult for intubated patients on ventilators to communicate."The outcomes are not as good as we would like for them to be obviously, but we're doing everything we can to give the patients hope and their families hope and try to get them out of here to see another day," Whitehouser said.
"One of the major differences is the resources we have," said Claudia Cardemas, ICU medical director at Fort Duncan."We have equipment, we have the the supplies to take care of our stuff, but we actually need people that have the knowledge to use it and take care of the community."Navy Lt. Garrett Harp, an intensivist and commander of the team sent to Eagle Pass, had that knowledge.
Navy Lt. Garrett Harp gives thanks to chief nursing officer Deborah Meeks at Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center in Eagle Pass, Texas, in an undated photo.Meeks said the presence of the troops was an immediate morale boost for staff -- and that's before they had a chance to take stock of the talent that had come their way.
"I'm a provider that sees patients, but I'm also the task force commander," Cook said."So the day starts pretty early, trying to make sure everybody gets over here for their shift." Lt. Col. Brad Allen, another member of the task force in Victoria, said the civilian staff was"very helpful in kind of getting us up to speed; they've been feeding us more and more patients to unburden their system.""It's really been seamless, and I cannot tell you on behalf of Detar Healthcare System, just how appreciative we are of all of these people who have come out," Leger said.
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