4
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, APRIL 19, 2020
WYCKOFF
“You do what needs to be
done, but you now have to
split your time between four
patients. You move from
one to the next, it’s almost
like an assembly line,” said
Coleen Peters. “It’s so busy
you don’t have time for bathroom
breaks or lunch.”
The hospital has also
struggled to provide the necessary
amount of personal
protective equipment, such
as masks, face shields, and
gowns, said Branford.
Staff are only provided
with one N95 mask and one
pair of scrubs per 12-hour
shift, and she said she’s had
to use the same medical face
shield per fi ve shifts.
“If I’m perspiring
through it where it’s literally
clinging to my skin, you
can’t ask me to re-wear it,”
Branford said. “It’s not sanitary.
I’m going to make myself
ill, my co-workers, and
my patients.”
The protesters demanded
that more frontline healthcare
workers get tested for
COVID-19, because of their
high chance of exposure to
the virus, which has already
cost the life of one of their coworkers,
said Branford.
“This is horrible given
that we live in the 21st century
and in a fi rst world
country,” she said.
The hospital — which
registered the fi rst coronavirus
related death in New
York City on March 14 — has
been struggling to secure resources
as it competes with
other larger healthcare providers,
according to a press
release by the New York
State Nurses Association,
which organized a rally to
highlight the issue on April
10.
Protesters demanded
that Governor Andrew
Cuomo fast-track distribution
of tests and protective
equipment to the hospitals
hardest hit by the health crisis,
and for President Donald
Trump to authorize the Defense
Production Act, which
would allow the federal government
to force private
companies to produce medical
equipment to combat the
pandemic.
AMBULANCES
the next call.”
Wait times in Brooklyn
are second in the city
to neighboring Queens,
which recorded the highest
average delays in the
Five Boroughs as the area
becomes a national hotspot
for the pandemic, which is
compounded by the low volume
of nearby hospitals,
said Variale.
“It is really all about
the hospitals being overwhelmed
and not having
the ability to put the patients
anywhere,” he said.
“Finding a hospital that is
available when you need
one is a hot commodity
these days.”
And while hospitals
are delaying paramedics’
response time, emergency
services are seeing record
high volumes of calls.
Making matters worse,
Variale claimed that 24
percent of fi rst responders
— who routinely interact
closely with coronavirus
patients — are out sick,
leaving emergency personnel
vastly overworked in
order to keep up.
“So we are really dealing
with an increased
call volume and a smaller
amount of people handling
the call volume,” Variale
said. “And it is taking a toll
physically, mentally, emotionally.
Paramedics are
really feeling it.”
Paramedics have also
seen a sharp rise in cardiac
arrest calls since the onset
of the crisis, with more
than 300 calls per day citywide,
compared with an average
of 80 daily calls prior
to the pandemic, according
to Variale.
In order to keep ambulances
staffed, Variale said
overtime has been through
the roof with paramedics
working 16 hour-shifts, four
to fi ve days a week, since
the onset of COVID-19.
“Right now more than
ever, we have a lot of overtime,”
Variale said. “People
are working double shifts
almost everyday.”
But the situation did not
come out of nowhere, according
to the union head,
who said the unit has also
been denied proper funding
and preparation.
“We went into this crisis
understaffed, and now
24 percent of the workforce
is out sick,” Variale.
The union rep also
blasted FDNY brass for
an alleged failure to provide
enough face masks
and other protective equipment.
“They are trying to ration
masks, but any call
we go to we have to be concerned
we are going to be
exposed to the coronavirus,”
he said. “And we have
told paramedics if you
don’t feel safe, don’t worry
about the department, use
it and will be there to defend
you rigorously.”
Donations can be made
to EMS FDNY Help Fund
www.emsfdnyhelpfund.com.
Hospital staff gathered outside and held signs. Corey Finger, NYSNA
Ambulances are seeing wait
times of up to two hours.
Uniformed EMS Offi cers Union
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/www.emsfdnyhelpfund.com
/www.emsfdnyhelpfund.com