Doctors Are Going Viral — & Getting Fired — For Discussing Coronavirus Safety Issues
April 04, 2020DMT Beauty#DMTBeautySpot #beauty
People all over the world, including those on the frontlines, are using social media to share how they’re coping with the coronavirus crisis. We’re discovering so much about medical personnel through their online stories. Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Elvis L. Francois went viral for his heartfelt videos showing off his beautiful singing. Dr. Jason Campbell, a resident in Oregon, also went viral for his amazing TikTok dance clips. However, other tweets and YouTube videos that show doctors and nurses in need of personal protective equipment (PPE) are downright devastating. While hospitals don’t seem to care about lighthearted social media posts, some are threatening those who speak out about the lack of equipment.
It’s no secret that doctors and nurses are contracting COVID-19. So, if they’re not dying from the coronavirus or getting sick, some of them now risk losing their jobs for the mere reason of informing the public about the discrepancies of their medical institution.
On March 27, Dr. Ming Lin at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, WA, gave an interview on YouTube in which he spoke about feeling that his staff was at risk because of inadequate PPE even though hospital officials claimed to have sufficient supplies.
“I do fear for my staff,” Lin said in the video. “Morally, I think when you see something wrong, you have to speak out.”
Yesterday, President Donald Trump reiterated in a White House briefing that state officials should be responsible for supplying their hospitals with PPE and other medical supplies. However, some hospitals, including in New York, are getting assistance from overseas or other states.
Medical workers continue to publicly express that they’re in dire need of supplies and how they’re reusing PPE while attempting to be as safe as possible.
Indiana emergency physician Dr. Stephen Sample tweeted that he and his staff put their masks in the oven and bake them at 175 degrees in order to kill the virus and reuse the masks.
Freshly baked masks. And my oven only goes to 175, so I got some extra virus killing going on up in this bitch. #GetMePPE pic.twitter.com/gQ7vsIdx4m
— JAFERD, MD (@Supermansings) March 31, 2020
Everyone forgets about EMS, we go into peoples homes& apartments & in very small spaces & have to face people with this virus. This is the same * single use* n95 I’ve worn over & over. Please don’t forget about us. We’re on the front lines. #GetMePPE #GetUsPPE #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/uNlp7VB71A
— C ♡ (@cdevoti) March 31, 2020
Dr. Ania Ringwelski, an ER doctor at Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, was asked to leave her post after bringing her own PPE gear from home, according to the New York Times.
“I want to help out, but I need to feel protected,” Dr. Ringwelski told the Times. “I’m not expecting the hospital to provide it in this time of shortage, but if I can procure it on my own, then I’d like to be able to wear it.”
While many in the medical field have gone public about their hospital’s shortages, those being fired for making such allegations are not speaking out publicly.
Since this piece went online, I've heard about other doctors or nurses who were fired or otherwise punished for protesting inadequate PPE or for wearing their own. Hospital administrators should listen to front-line Covid doctors, not muzzle them. https://t.co/fFr1BxmchX
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) April 2, 2020
Another doctor muzzled and fired in the MIDDLE of a pandemic! 🤯
— Daniel PLEASE STAY HOME Choi, MD (@drdanchoi) April 2, 2020
Baptist Memorial Hospital – N Mississippi fires doctor for speaking out about inadequate PPE. She even collected baby monitors to try to limit staff exposure
Labeled “disruptive” by hospital admin and FIRED 🤬😡 pic.twitter.com/j55edHQTRv
1 thing that I find disturbing during this crisis is looking at who continues working day + night at my hospital besides healthcare workers — black + brown custodians/security guards/cafe cashiers/administrators. PoC ARE ALWAYS AT THE FRONTLINES, WE APPRECIATE U #covid19
— David Alejandro Sanchez, MD (@davidasanchezmd) March 19, 2020
After examining a hypoxic woman in her 50s with no medical problems who likely has COVID, I had to clean my single-use face shield that I’ve worn the past three days with disinfectant used to clean hospital beds since we ran out of sanitizing wipes #GetMePPE pic.twitter.com/85xQcmc1dN
— Ayrenne Adams, MD MPH (@AyrenneAdamsMD) March 28, 2020
Some medical workers are sharing that they have had no choice but to quit for a variety of reasons, including lack of PPE. A nurse in Chicago posted a chilling Instagram video where she said she had to quit her job after hospital management told her she could not wear an N95 mask that she brought from her home even though they couldn’t supply her with protective gear.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by ❥ Imaris | Nursing & Lifestyle (@nurse.iv) on Mar 30, 2020 at 5:43pm PDT
A medical worker at Phoebe Hospital in Albany, GA — the site of a major hotspot in the state — posted a video saying she was forced to quit her job because she was a single mother and couldn’t risk infecting her children.
Employee at Phoebe Hospital in Albany, GA quits on the spot after being asked to work with coronavirus patients. pic.twitter.com/s3YDMNOTIF
— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) March 28, 2020
“It is good and appropriate for health care workers to be able to express their own fears and concerns, especially when expressing that might get them better protection,” Glenn Cohen, faculty director of Harvard Law School’s bioethics center, said in an interview with Bloomberg. “When health care workers say they are not being protected, the public gets very upset at the hospital system.”
In Boston alone, more than 150 hospital workers at four different hospitals have tested positive for COVID-19. In New York City, more than 200 medical workers have also contracted the coronavirus.
Dr. Li Wenliang, of China, was the first medical professional to speak out about the coronavirus publicly. The Chinese government silenced him and others for doing so. He ultimately contracted the coronavirus and succumbed to the disease, dying at 33.
COVID-19 has been declared a global pandemic. Go to the CDC website for the latest information on symptoms, prevention, and other resources.
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