
A N.Y. Nurse Dies. Angry Co-Workers Blame a Lack of Protective Gear - fortran77
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/nyregion/nurse-dies-coronavirus-mount-sinai.html
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gentleman11
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

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

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DougN7
I’ve read it’s because of viral load which is correlated with exposure.

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jlgaddis
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._

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snailmailman
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.”

~~~
jlgaddis
> _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._

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morninglight
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?

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jseliger
Also germane: [https://www.vox.com/2020/3/26/21192191/coronavirus-us-new-
yo...](https://www.vox.com/2020/3/26/21192191/coronavirus-us-new-york-
hospitals-doctors-nurses).

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22693706](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22693706)

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fortran77
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](https://data.ibtimes.sg/en/full/35116/kious-kelly.jpg)

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

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

