 |
| Image credit: Pexels |
Originally published: Common Sense
July/August 2020
Medic-1 is responding to an assault in a rural location. Dispatch notifies EMS that the patient has a fever and was put on mandatory self-isolation for 14 days. On arrival, EMS dons a sterile cap, goggles, an N95 mask, face shield, gown, and gloves. The patient, belligerent and intoxicated on alcohol and psilocybin, yells at EMS ‘I have the COVID!’. She rushes EMS, removes the practitioners mask, and coughs in his face. Police arrest the woman under the Mental Health Act, and EMS transports, only for her to spit and verbally abuse them the entire length of transport. EMS unloads the patient and awaits triage. After handing over care, EMS doffs all used PPE, and don’s new equipment to thoroughly clean the ambulance. One of the practitioner’s displays signs of COVID-19 three days later. This article is a medical student/paramedic’s perspective on COVID-19.
