Craig Spencer MD MPH
@Craig_A_Spencer
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ER Doctor | Ebola Survivor | Public Health & Humanitarian Response | Historical Determinants of Public Health @Brown_SPH | Member @CFR_org | Emmy Award Winnerđ
Joined February 2017
A virus that 'affects virtually nobody' is the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States.
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As an ER doc, I can 100% tell you that after cardiac arrest, CPR and defibrillation (AED), there is no way any provider will say Damar Hamlin is âokayâ anytime soon. Cancel the game @NFL. Let people be together.
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Thank you everyone for your incredible messages of support and encouragement.âĽď¸. Many of you asked what it was like in the ER right now. I want to share a bit with you. Please RT:. A Day in the Life of an ER Doc - A Brief Dispatch from the #COVID19 Frontline:.
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Finally home after 13 hours in the ER. Today >90% of my patients were confirmed or likely #COVID19. Many really sick, some in their 30s like me. The sirens on otherwise empty NYC streets are unending & haunting. Iâm tired. But really honored to be back in the ER in the morning.
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Instead of praise or special ceremonies or free tickets, healthcare workers would actually just prefer if yâall stopped hosting superspreader events that gave us more work.
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Just leaving a long day in the ER. Today marks 4 shifts in a row without a single Covid case. Itâs much better like this.
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A vaccine wonât help any of the patients with COVID19 in my ER right now. It wonât help those thatâll come tomorrow either. Or the day after. The pandemic is worsening everyday. Whatâll get us through the next few months is vigilance. And masks. And distancing. And patience.
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You might hear people saying it isn't real. It is. You might hear people saying it isn't bad. It is. You might hear people saying it can't take you down. It can. I survived Ebola. I fear #COVIDăź19. Do your part. Stay home. Stay safe. And every day I'll come to work for you.
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Your 'the pandemic isn't over' reminder:. Globally more people died of Covid-19 in the first half of 2021 than in all of 2020.
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Just worked 12 hours in the ER on a busy Monday and didnât have a single Covid patient. Not one. This ainât over. But itâs a helluva lot better than even just a few weeks ago.
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More Americans died of Covid in the past 2 weeks than died of influenza in the past 3 years.
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Hi, doctor here. Obamacare was great healthcare. Cause it was healthcare for millions of people who DID NOT have healthcare. People donât remember how absolutely horrible it was before. I do. It was horrible.
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I just left an ER shift, and it hit me. Healthcare providers will be respected for tirelessly working to save lives, not accused of falsifying diagnoses or profiteering off a horrible pandemic. We will have a partner working with us, not against us. It already feels so good.
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More Americans died of COVID19 today than died on 9/11. After that horrendous attack, we restructured our way of life & accepted limits on our freedoms to combat the threat of terrorism. 9/11 was one day. COVID is everyday. Be a patriot. Wear a mask. Help us end this pandemic.
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I just watched the whole RFK JrâHannity interview where they discuss measles. I don't know what to say. I'm really just speechless. Listening to health leadership bungle basic facts at bestâand tell outright lies about long-settled science at worstâis just SO disappointing.
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Dear @realDonaldTrump,. I know youâre preoccupied with overturning the election, but Iâm just leaving the ER and wanted to remind you thereâs a worsening pandemic out here and weâd appreciate some assistance or if youâd hand this off to the incoming team thatâd be great. Thanks.
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You know why we intubated people for Covid in March 2020?. Because otherwise they were going to die. Full. Stop. I remember a patient rolling in with an oxygen saturation of 42%, breathing twice as fast as normal,struggling on a face mask with oxygen all the way up. What to do?.
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If you think cable news anchors staying up a few nights in a row during an election is selfless and amazing, wait til you find out what night shift nurses do.
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I got my second dose of the #COVID19 vaccine today and now Iâm feeling some arm soreness and a massive disgust of seditious elected officials.
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Weâre finally getting the national COVID-19 response we needed a year ago.
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If you could see a #COVID19 patient struggling to breathe like we do in the ER, youâd immediately understand why weâre so worried and why itâs safest to cancel your in-person family meetups over the holidays. Next year will be safer and weâd like all of you to be there for it.
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Make a huge mistake. Then make a false claim about how you fixed it. They did it for PEPFAR. Now Ebola. I follow this particular topic VERY closely, so here's what really happened and why this isn't true AT ALL. đ§ľ.
Elon Musk: "We will make mistakes. We won't be perfect . so for example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was ebola prevention."
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For everyone dismissing #COVID19 as âjust the fluâ or dismissively saying â99.99% surviveâ, tell me the last time we stationed freezer trucks outside hospitals all over the country to serve as overflow morgues.
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Iâve seen a lot of Covid in the ER recently. With so many people getting infected recently, some folks may wonder whatâs the point of getting vaccinated at all?. And is there really any value to a booster dose if Iâve had two Pfizer/Moderna or a shot of J&J?. My observations: đ§ľ.
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COVID-19 is the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States.
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Tomorrow Iâll get vaccinated against #COVID19! You know what Iâm gonna do right after?. Iâm gonna wear a mask, always. Iâll take the exact same precautions that have kept me safe for months in the ER & in public. Im going to act as if Im not vaccinated. But will be grateful I am.
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Questions for Trumpâs medical team:. 1. When was last negative test?.2. What labs were abnormal?.3. Does he have COVID pneumonia?.4. Is he on antibiotics?.5. Mental status exam results?.6. Fever? If not, what antipyretic is he on and how often?.7. Did you sign off on the joyride?.
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I have a COVID19 joke but I donât want you to get it.
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In 16 years as an ER doctor, Iâve never once heard anyone use the term âintubated ventilatorâ. And no one I know died in a spaceship. Or a vacuum. They died in overloaded hospitals, where staff were falling ill. You have absolutely no idea what it was like, or the decisions we.
@Rothmus I tried telling people this!. When I talked to doctors in Wuhan after the first wave hit China, their top recommendation was to avoid using intubated ventilators for extended periods at 100% O2, as it damages the lungs. I got the âyouâre not a doctorâ.
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Today I was promoted to Associate Professor at Columbia Universityâs medical and public health schools. Iâm guessing it doesnât mean much to people outside academia, and frankly Iâm not exactly sure how it changes things, but itâs just real nice to have any good news in 2020!.
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If only there was a center focused on the control of diseases, I bet theyâd excel at this task.
@USATODAY reporters are working to identify every single person in a photo of the White House Rose Garden event where many were exposed to COVID-19: Can you help? Get in touch using this form:
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Today I was asked to pick up our son early because of another exposure at daycare. Tonight I just walked by a bar with dozens of unmasked people and a large live band in a tiny tiny space. We need to get our damn priorities straight.
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We were too late to stop this virus. Full stop. But we can slow it's spread. The virus can't infect those it never meets. Stay inside. Social distancing is the only thing that will save us now. I don't care as much about the economic impact as I do about our ability to save lives.
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Hi Chuck, ER doc here,. Weâre not lying. Itâs actually really horrible to see people die from COVID19. And itâs not about the election. Itâs actually still about the dying thing. And itâs preventable. ps the economy only comes back when we manage COVID. pss Iâm also sick of it.
The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most ,that we are told to trust. I think it's all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I'm sick of it.
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There's really no way to describe what we're seeing. Our new reality is unreal. The people and places we've known so long & so well have been transformed. Our ERs are ICUs. Everything looks, sounds and feels different. Just one week and it's a whole different world. THREAD.
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If youâre watching the debate, the head of the Coronavirus Task Force is refusing to answer why we have more deaths than any other country.
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Leaving a tough shift in the ER. Iâve had to do it many times before, but itâs impossible to describe how sad and horrible it feels to tell someone their son has died. Or to hear his young daughter across the country, wailing, as you standby, feeling helpless. Hold em close.
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So no matter your political affiliation, or thoughts on masks, or where you live in this country, as an ER doctor youâd trust with your life if you rolled into my emergency room at 3am, I promise you that youâd rather face the oncoming Omicron wave vaccinated. Please be safe. â¤ď¸.
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I treated many really sick Covid-19 patients today. All wanted to get vaccinated but didnât know how to navigate appointments, transportation. Might sound easy, but for many, itâs not. Expanding eligibility doesnât always mean accessibility, especially for the most vulnerable.
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Iâm spending Thanksgiving indoors with a lot of new people!!!. Because Iâll be working in the ER. Even then - with PPE and COVID testing - the risk wonât be zero. If you donât need to travel, please donât. Thereâs just no foolproof way to make holiday family meetups zero-risk.
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Hey other countries, do your public health experts get death threats in the middle of pandemics too?.
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COVID19 currently has 531 electoral votes and is a strong favorite for all 4 in Maine.
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Itâs 4am. Most of the city is sleeping. I just saw an unstable COVID patient in the same room I saw my first COVID patient ~9 months ago. The same room I treated a colleague really sick with COVID. We all want this pandemic to end. Especially all of us working on the frontline.
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Pfizer made $37 billion off its Covid vaccine last year, more than the GDP of 120 countries. Moderna founders made Forbesâ list of richest people. Yet only 10% of people in low-income countries have been vaccinated. And Covaxâthe global dose-sharing initiativeâis out of money.
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I followed all public health guidance and infected no one. Youâve unnecessarily exposed numerous people over the last few days, your administration is refusing to do contact tracing, and thereâs an outbreak in the White House because of your dangerous disregard of public health.
The Ebola doctor who just flew to N.Y. from West Africa and went on the subway, bowling and dining is a very SELFISH man-should have known!.
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She screams it over the phone:. âPlease donât let him die, heâs 92 and the only person I have left!â. My shift is over but I go to check on him. Heâs in a corner in the ER. Heâs on oxygen. Breathing rapidly. Oxygen saturation dropping fast. But he looks up and smiles at me.
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Now yâall know what it felt like for public health professionals to watch his COVID press briefings.
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Today I was vaccinated against COVID19! After witnessing the havoc this virus wreaked on our community, I was ecstatic to be vaccinated. A true scientific miracle. I got vaccinated for my patients, my colleagues, and for the new baby joining our family any day now!. #IGotTheShot
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For months, me & my colleagues at Columbia Universityâs medical center have treated thousands of #COVID19 patients. Every one with dignity. Never disgracefully. I wrote about their sacrifice here. I still choke up when I read it. We are not disgraceful.
"Columbia is a liberal, disgraceful institution" -- Trump to Sharyl Attkisson on Columbia University study that found 30,000 lives could've been saved had his federal government recommended social distancing measures just one week earlier
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I had Ebola and was treated with convalescent plasma. It was before we had good data on it. And it actually made me worse. Convalescent plasma has an incredible history & works for many diseases. But it didnât for Ebola. And might not for Covid. Only good science can tell us.
BREAKING: FDA, under pressure from Trump, expected to authorize blood plasma as Covid-19 treatment
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Four years ago today, I walked into the apocalypse. Crossing the line in the ER felt like entering a whole other world. Frenetic alarms. Patients strewn about, struggling to breathe. Too few staff. Too many deaths. Covid was everything. It had completely taken over our ER.
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Itâs not an attack on Fauci. Itâs an attack on science. On public health. On everything we should be doing to combat this pandemic. Itâs the reason we have more cases than any other country. Itâs the reason we have more deaths than any other country. Itâs why weâve failed.
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I just did a BBC interview. The host said that in the U.K. you can just walk into a pharmacy and pick up free tests. I informed him that at-home tests in the US cost $8-$10 eachâif you can find themâand Iâm not sure but I think maybe his head exploded. This ainât normal people.
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Iâm sick of seeing people trying to relitigate 2020 through the eyes of 2023. If you miraculously know everything now, why didnât you tell us so then?. So over a million Americans didnât have to die of Covid. So we didnât have to put ourselves at risk every time we went to work.
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Today this administration tried telling you weâre better off without the World Health Organization, that we have the âlowest Mortality Rate in the Worldâ, and that itâs safe to reopen schools as a pandemic rages across the country. Iâm here to tell you thatâs all bullshit.
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BREAKING: Moments after stating âI learned a lot about COVIDâ, the President takes a joyride in an enclosed space with presumably #COVID19 negative people, all while on experimental medications.
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Iâd love to chime in with some #COVID19 updates but Iâve got multiple jobs and canât sit around tweeting all day like Iâm the President. I hope youâll understand.
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When I called the family of patients who died of #COVID19, never once did adding âit is what it isâ seem appropriate.
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My 4 year old went for his annual checkup today. He got his measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) vaccine today, as recommended. As a physician, I know how this will protect him, especially now. And as a parent, I trust the safety of the vaccine.
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Itâs November 4th. And today we had 103k new #COVID19 cases. The highest ever and the first time over 100k. 52k are hospitalized. And 1,116 died. This wasnât a hoax. Or a fake-news plot. This is a public health crisis that youâve mismanaged since day one.
ALL THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA WANTS TO TALK ABOUT IS COVID, COVID, COVID. ON NOVEMBER 4th, YOU WONâT BE HEARING SO MUCH ABOUT IT ANYMORE. WE ARE ROUNDING THE TURN!!!.
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My sickest patient was an elderly woman gasping for air. She was resolute - no life support. A colleague called a professional musician to play Bach on a phone by her bed. Later I walked by. Her breathing labored. On oxygen. At peace. With a violin playing in the background.
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There are thousands of people in a stadium for a sports event like weâre in country thatâs managed covid instead of one still averaging 3,000 deaths a day.
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Here the president falsely claims frontline healthcare workers are profiting by claiming false #COVID19 diagnoses. In reality, they are working nonstop, often without adequate PPE, because this administration failed. To date, more than 1,700 have died.
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I donât care about the narrative you want to create, from the safety of where you stand now. Do not try to reimagine the environment and the challenges so many of my colleagues felt on the frontlines, 3 years ago, when we knew almost nothing. My colleagues died.
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Iâve seen hundreds of #COVID19 patients. Mark Meadows has seen none. Please do not listen to these damn fools. Nearly half of US adults have high blood pressure. Over 40% are obese. And nearly 10% have diabetes. THE MAJORITY OF AMERICAN ADULTS HAVE SIGNIFICANT COMORBIDITIES!.
âOutside from [comorbidities], the risks are extremely lowâ â Mark Meadows defends Trumpâs false claim about 99 percent of Covid cases being harmless
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Why does the US have more #COVID19 cases and deaths than any other country in the world?. Because the people who signed off on this are the exact same people leading our pandemic response.
BREAKING: Moments after stating âI learned a lot about COVIDâ, the President takes a joyride in an enclosed space with presumably #COVID19 negative people, all while on experimental medications.
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Just leaving the ER. It was a long day. And a stunning amount of Covid. Today I worked in an area that was temporarily converted into a makeshift ICU during the first COVID wave. Hereâs what different from then. And also what challenges weâre facing with this surge in NYC: đ§ľ.
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You get home. You strip in the hallway (it's ok, your neighbors know what you do). Everything in a bag. Your wife tries to keep your toddler away, but she hasn't seen you in days, so it's really hard. Run to the shower. Rinse it all away. Never happier. Time for family.
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The ER was super busy today! Started the day pulling a huge insect out of someoneâs ear. Ended it taking care of someone who was in an accident and thrown off their motorcycle. BUT I didnât see a single Covid patient. Not one. This is how itâs supposed to be.
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Here's your #COVID19 update:. â˝ď¸Testing capacity is strained. Again. â˝ď¸PPE in short supply throughout the country. Again. â˝ď¸Today was another record high case count. Again. â˝ď¸NOT ONE SINGLE STATE has a decreasing case count. It's July, people. Not March. This is abject failure.
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119k Americans are hospitalized with #COVID19 tonight. Iâm grateful for everyone who took care of our loved ones on this holiday. To my colleagues - nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, physicians, laboratory technicians, transporters - thank you for everything you do!.
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There was one clear takeaway from todayâs POTUS #COVID19 update:. The nationâs best medical professionals and the President himself chose an experimental medicine with very limited data for treatment over hydroxychloroquine.
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After nearly two years of this pandemic, today is one of those days I wonder if weâve really learned anything.
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Iâm getting lots of messages from people freakinâ out about Delta, so let me reiterate:. If you are fully vaccinated against Covid, you are still much much much much much much much much much much much much safer than anyone who is unvaccinated.
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So what's really going on here in NYC?. You're hearing conflicting information on who is tested, who is admitted, who goes home, and what's going on inside hospitals. Let me shed some light. NYC ER docs are a small and collaborative community, so let me share the scoop:. THREAD.
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Hi, public health person here to help clarify:. So, this is NOT a âgreat updateâ. âStabilizingâ at 20k new cases is a disaster. 21 states have upward trends in newly reported cases. And 10 states are seeing highest daily average of new COVID19 cases. This is an abject failure.
Great update w/ the WH Coronavirus Task Force. Today less than 6% of Americans tested have the virus, cases have stabilized over the past 2 weeks, averaging 20Kâdown from 30K in April. Hospitalizations are declining & weâre working closely with states to Safely Reopen America.
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âDonât be afraidâ of the 3rd leading cause of death in the US.
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The fact that weâve normalized >1,000 #COVID19 deaths a day as somehow acceptable is just a depressing fâing disaster.
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Every patient Iâve seen with Covid thatâs had a 3rd âboosterâ dose has had mild symptoms. By mild I mean mostly sore throat. Lots of sore throat. Also some fatigue, maybe some muscle pain. No difficulty breathing. No shortness of breath. All a little uncomfortable, but fine.
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You reflect on the fact that it's really hard to understand how bad this is - and how bad its going to be - if all you see are empty streets. Hospitals are nearing capacity. We are running out of ventilators. Ambulance sirens don't stop.
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Nearly everyone you see today is the same. We assume everyone is #COVIDăź19. We wear gowns, goggles, and masks at every encounter. All day. It's the only way to be safe. Where did all the heart attacks and appendicitis patients go? Its all COVID.
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I never tweet at work but our nurses are just absolutely amazing right now and I thought everyone should know.
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Remember this is about learning lessons to be better prepared for the next time, not about padding your Twitter followers. Iâm happy to talk about what I got wrong (a lot!). But I will not allow others to undermine the real, sad, and horrible challenges we faced from day one.
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I just watched a whole White House COVID-19 Response team briefing and never had the urge to shout or rage tweet. Plus I love how nearly every media question started with 'thank you for doing this'. Amazed at how much has changed in just a week.
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You walk out and take off your mask. You feel naked and exposed. It's still raining, but you want to walk home. Feels safer than the subway or bus, plus you need to decompress. The streets are empty. This feels nothing like what is happening inside. Maybe people don't know???.
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Given how many times Iâve had to say âNo, thatâs NOT at all what the new CDC guidelines say!â in the last few hours, Iâm guessing this ainât gonna go well.
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Before you leave, you wipe EVERYTHING down. Your phone. Your badge. Your wallet. Your coffee mug. All of it. Drown it in bleach. Everything in a bag. Take no chances. Sure you got it all??? Wipe is down again. Can't be too careful.
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For the rest of your shift, nearly every hour, you get paged:. Stat notification: Very sick patient, short of breath, fever. Oxygen 88%. Stat notification: Low blood pressure, short of breath, low oxygen. Stat notification: Low oxygen, can't breath. Fever. All day. .
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Thousands of the best experts at FDA, NIH, and all across HHS are being terminated right now. These are the people who make sure the medications you and your children take are safe. These are the people who perform and oversee research on cancer, infant health, and so so so.
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Sometime in the afternoon you recognize you haven't drank any water. You're afraid to take off the mask. It's the only thing that protects you. Surely you can last a little longer - in West Africa during Ebola, you spent hours in a hot suit without water. One more patient. .
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And almost every single patient that Iâve taken care of that needed to be admitted for Covid has been unvaccinated. Every one with profound shortness of breath. Every one whose oxygen dropped when they walked. Every one needing oxygen to breath regularly.
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Finishing an overnight shift in the ER. First patient was severe covid. Last patient was severe covid.
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âDonât let it dominate your lifeâ you said!. 210k Americans have died. We held their hands & called their families over grainy video connections so they could see their last breaths. Your lack of empathy is the single greatest threat to the American people. You have failed us.
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When your shift ends, you sign out to the oncoming team. It's all #COVIDăź19. Over the past week, we've all learned the signs - low oxygen, lymphopenia, elevated D-dimer. You share concerns of friends throughout the city without PPE. Hospitals running out of ventilators.
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Updated data from NYCâs Omicron surge. The graphs speak for themselves. Absolutely stunning.
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