BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - As COVID-19 cases continue to rise across our region, we wanted to talk with health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic.
“At the beginning, it was I guess a whirlwind,” said Jerrilyn Wilson.
“It’s been challenging. Thankfully, my co-workers are amazing,” said Melinda Chapin.
Chapin and Wilson are registered nurses assigned to the COVID floor at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Wilson has only been an RN for a year and a half. A worldwide pandemic is not exactly the way she imagined starting out her career.
“We always want to put the patients first as nurses but we had to make sure we were protected ourselves. Which was really hard to deal with and cope with at the beginning,” Wilson said.
Being protected begins with the personal protective equipment that’s now part of the daily uniform.
“The PPE is hot and can be awkward,” Chapin said.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock provided WCAX News with footage of the COVID unit. The medical center is still not accepting visitors, so our cameras are not allowed inside.
“This is kind of what we signed up for. I mean, not necessarily pandemic but we signed up to take care of sick people when they need it and that is what we do,” Chapin said.
Along with the physical demands of the PPE, there is also a mental toll of dealing with a highly contagious and deadly virus. The health care providers who work behind the hospital doors are, in some ways, putting their own safety on the line.
“I think at first I was scared like everybody,” Chapin said.
Luckily, the surge of cases that has threatened to overwhelm other hospitals around the country has not played out in our region. DHMC currently has just three patients with the virus. The most the facility has had at one time is 10.
“As time went on we realized that the gear that was provided to us and the steps we were taking, we were able to stay protected from these patients,” Wilson said.
As cases continue to rise, these front-line workers say they are ready, which they credit to their entire team.
“I think that is probably what is getting us through this. We know we can’t get through this without each other,” Wilson said.
The nurses say potential vaccines for COVID-19 give added hope but there is also a sense that much more work needs to be done. In the last two days alone in New Hampshire, more than a thousand cases were reported.
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December 03, 2020 at 06:18AM
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Nurses on the front lines - WCAX
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