COVID-19 - Pay Atttention! Life or Death?

Words of Wisdom from the front lines of the Health Industry

Nick Dennison

March 22 at 3:22 AM

I’ve not posted on FB for a long time so read this.

I’m a consultant anaesthetist working in Frimley Park Hospital and this week all anaesthetists are being re-roled as intensive care doctors. We will be tasked with putting the sickest patients under anaesthetic and onto ventilators/life support machines. Each patient will require 10 days+ on a ventilator then may need a temporary tracheostomy to get them off the ventilator.

The intensive care unit is already full of COVID-19 patients on ventilators (12) with more requiring ventilation every day. My hospital usually has 4-10 patients on ventilators and is planning and EXPECTING 80 patients to require ventilation.

It seems the public health message is not getting through. Let me be clear. A lot of people are going to die. They will mainly be 70 years plus but be in no doubt, 30-40 year olds will die too.

Pubs have been busy, offices open, social events happening, kids parties etc. It all needs to stop. Infected people shed virus and it must be everywhere by now. It is your social responsibility to engage in social distancing. Actions NOW can prevent further disease transmission, ICU admissions and deaths in 10-20 days.

Two of my anaesthetic/ICU colleagues in other hospitals are off work due to being infected (doing ok). As health care workers, we are now EXPECTING to catch it despite PPE. This virus has been transmitted around the globe unchecked and will not stop until it has no where to go - social distancing/isolation Or patient death.

Here ends my public health message.

On a more personal level, my son turned three years old last week and is six weeks into a three year chemotherapy program for lymphoma. This virus is a big threat to his life and as I am going to be exposed this week doing my job, I can no longer live at home.

I have had to make the difficult choice: to do my job and save lives of people I don’t know, or to be with my son whilst he battles cancer. Alfie hopefully will survive his cancer and chemo, but many people will die from flu. My heart is broken making this decision, but I choose to save the lives of strangers and leave him in the care of my beautiful wife and family.

Later this week I’ll be moving into a motor home and will not be able to take any further part in his care for the next 6 months.

Bottom line. SOCIALLY ISOLATE or people die in two weeks.

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 Words of Wisdom From Another Dr. in Chicago. Click to see 

video. Dr. Emily Landon is the chief infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Chicago Medicine, who moments after Pritzker issued the ordinance to take effect Saturday evening, took to the stand with a 7-minute-long speech that went viral after striking a chord for many individuals.

Share this video on your Facebook page. This lady is telling people the truth; but who will listen. Who will stay home to help shut this virus down and who will go ahead as if the virus doesn't exist and infect many more people out there and cause many more deaths?

Stay home, shelter in place, and wash your hands. Wear a mask when you go outside your home. If you don't want to do it to protect yourself, then do it to protect your family or others in your community - to help keep others safe who might die from this virus.

This is life or death! Make your choice responsibly.

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CNN Coronavirus Town Hall – April 2^nd, 2020.  Watch this if you

can. Very good information. Share this on your Facebook page.  Let’s 

get the word out there. Don't bury your head in the sand and act like 

this isn't happening.  It is real.  You or your loved ones could be next if 

we don't do Social distancing, shelter in place, wash our hands, wear 

masks when we go in public and do everything possible to keep 

everyone we know, as well as strangers we haven't met - SAFE.

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Here is a very sad story that people should read.  

Click on link above.  This is a story about a husband and wife, parents to 2 adult children; who just lost their lives to Coronavirus and they were perfectly healthy, married for 51 years and died 6 minutes apart.  The husband had a fever but the wife didn't.  Both felt bad; but the disease acts fast; and neither of them could be saved.  

Please follow the guidelines and do what is best for everyone.  Don't be selfish.  Make decisions out of love for human kind and the future of our world.

Please take care of yourself and each other and STAY SAFE.