If Your Brother were one of the 1,000s Dying from COVID 19, would You Wear a Mask?
The thousands of people with covid have stories. Here’s how I met Dave.
COVID is out of control. Remember the faces of those hundreds of people who die from COVID each day. Picture a person, not a number. I know I do.
In the middle of a hellish treating COVID patients, I discussed resuscitation planning with the father of my 30-something-year-old patient. Let’s call him Dave. Through the previous night, Dave’s oxygen levels plummeted. We started high levels of breathing support. Somehow, he was still fully awake and alert.
Dave was diagnosed with a mental delay at birth. Despite his slow responses, Dave was very high functioning and was able to exhibit logical decision making. He reminded me much of my sister, who is a high-functioning person with Down Syndrome.
Dave gazed up at me from his hospital bed with high pressured oxygen pumped into his mouth and nose. I asked the man with a cherub-like face, “If you stop breathing, would you like us to place a tube down your throat to help you breathe? If your heart stops beating, do you want us to pump on your chest and shock you to bring you back?”
