What the Coronavirus looks like to an ER doctor
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Emergency medicine physician David Loya says he has more and more respect for what the coronavirus can do each day.
"It's so different from any other virus," Loya said. "The more you see it, the more you're concerned."
Loya lives in Montecito and commutes to work in the emergency room of two Los Angeles hospitals. The ER doctor shared with us his experiences diagnosing and dealing with an unpredictable and dangerous virus.
He described treating two otherwise healthy patients in their 60s with early coronavirus symptoms. Both were sent home to rest. One recovered, while the other returned the next day feeling shortness of breath. Within hours, the person was in respiratory distress and had to be put on a ventilator.
"They get worse in one day!" Loya said. "You can't do anything about it while it's early."
The coronavirus plays by a slightly different set of rules that throws off clinical rules and judgments, Loya said.
"Without any reason, it gets very bad," Loya said. "Either they'll get better, or bang! Something will happen."
Loya notes the high recovery rate in younger people but notes, "Within the older population, you just can't tell."
For those who are put on a ventilator in a hospital bed, Loya says it's a very different experience from other patients.
"You're in that room alone," Loya said. "No one wants to go in that room."
Families are not allowed to visit, and medical professionals are in and out quickly, he said.
Loya is well aware of the dangers that he and other health care professionals are themselves facing on the job. One of the hospitals where he works is providing hazard pay.
Loya looks around at the declining employment landscape and feels fortunate to still have a job where he can help people.
"What's worse?" Loya asks. "Taking on the risk, or losing a job?"
He is in lockstep with other health care professionals who say the risk of the virus spreading and doing damage to people is worse than the hit it's taking on the economy. He sees the Coronavirus numbers rising in Los Angeles, but says it's not overwhelming the system yet.
Loya credits Santa Barbara County leaders with taking early measures to slow the spread.
