Page 16 - MSM Primarily Caring Magazine

The effect of the coronavirus on Af- early days of the pandemic, but many exactly how the disease would behave,”
rican Americans has been staggering. who survived are suffering severe and he said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control chronic lung, renal and cardiovascular He and his colleagues were concerned
and Prevention reported that in the complications and blood clots. about whether they would have enough
early weeks of the pandemic, COVID-19 “This virus doesn’t know an age lim- PPE (personal protective equipment)
killed twice as many people of color it,” Dr. Flenaugh said. “This is not like such as gowns, masks, face shields and
under age 65 as it did white people in the flu; patients don’t just bounce back.” gloves. They were well aware that health
the same age group. Dr. Flenaugh said he and his col- care workers around the country were
“We took care of the sickest of the leagues decided to “cohort” the coro- getting sick, some even dying. But with
sick,” said Dr. Gregory Antoine, senior navirus patients into one area of the much community support and dona-
associate dean of clinical affairs and hospital. “Those requiring ICU level tions in Atlanta, he said, MSM, Emory
chief medical officer at MSM. “Our of care we put on the seventh floor at and Grady had “proper PPE for physi-
physicians worked tirelessly. They were Grady,” he said. “We had a 20-bed unit cians to take care of patients. That took
sometimes in the hospital 24/7 provid- that we set forth so that each attending some of the concerns away.”
ing acute care.” would have 20 patients underneath Despite that, he said several physi-
Grady Memorial Hospital, founded their care.” Having that COVID ICU, he cians and residents were sickened by
in 1892, is one of the nation’s largest said, allowed the staff to keenly focus the virus.
public hospitals. It is licensed for 950 on their sickest patients.
beds, admitting nearly 30,000 patients “When we went into that COVID THE HUMAN ASPECT
in 2019. Ninety percent of Grady’s pa- unit, that was all we did 24/7,” he said. The days and nights on the front lines at
tients are African American. It is the The clinicians gained expertise in man- Grady were emotionally and physically
largest hospital in Georgia and a major aging the disease. Their treatment strat- exhausting. Upon arrival, Dr. Flenaugh
safety net for its patients—30 percent egy became “standardized” as a result. said, he and his colleagues showered
of them are uninsured. While the environment he described and changed into scrubs. “Once you
“At our peak times, Grady utilized the was intense, MSM and Emory clinicians go into the area with PPE, you don’t go
Georgia World Congress Center tem- were able to stay on top of the demands in and out,” he said. “Then you shower
porary hospital provided by the state to to treat and save lives. “We didn’t get at the hospital, change back into clean
care for some COVID-19 patients who overwhelmed,” Dr. Flenaugh said. clothes, drive home, wipe everything
did not require a high level of care,” said Early on, he called on his network down and shower again at home.”
Denise Simpson, Grady spokeswoman. of colleagues from around the country Flenaugh, whose wife is also a phy-
for advice as the crush of COVID-19 sician, is the father of three daughters.
CLINICAL RESPONSE patients staggered other hospitals. He He took extra measures to protect them
In the early spring, as infections in- reached out to doctors in New York, from contracting the virus.
creased around the country, Grady New Jersey, Texas and Shanghai. “I kept myself a little bit distanced
leadership foresaw the coming crisis “We planned ahead and kind of from my family,” he said, using “gallons
and worked to put together what Dr. learned from other people’s mistakes,” and gallons of hand sanitizer.”
Flenaugh called “a biocontainment and he said. “I’d done a lot of researching He described as “mind-boggling” the
bio-response team, particularly with the and reaching out to other physicians emotional aspect of treating struggling
ICU.” The primary goal, he said, was in the country and internationally. We patients, many of them with single or
“to contain within the hospital so you talked one-on-one about what worked multiple organ failure, isolated for days
don’t get hospital spread of the virus.” and what didn’t, about strategies to and weeks from their loved ones. Those
What they did not expect, he said, implement this treatment and biocon- in respiratory failure were quickly put
was a subsequent huge spike in very tainment plan.” on ventilators; those whose kidneys
sick patients in late June, only weeks To fight COVID-19, Grady assembled started to fail were put on dialysis to
after it seemed the initial crush had a pool of designated physicians and a prevent renal failure.
seemed manageable. backup pool. MSM assigned four pool Dr. Flenaugh was especially con-
“It hit us like a tidal wave,” Dr. physicians, and Emory had six or seven. cerned about the patients being kept
Flenaugh said. At the height of the initial patient surge, from their relatives—and about the
Unlike the initial patient population Dr. Flenaugh said he worked four and families kept from their hospitalized
of elderly and already sick people, the a half weeks straight. “It was pretty loved ones.
new surge brought younger victims, fatiguing,” he said, with workdays a “I put myself in that situation,” he
many of them between 20 and 40 years grueling 13 to 15 hours long. said, a realization that prompted him
old. Not as many of the younger pa- “Going into it, in the beginning, there to call for a protocol requiring that
tients died as did elderly patients in the was uncertainty because we didn’t know families be updated on their patient’s

14 Primarily Caring Fall 2020

48397 MSM Magazine_r1.indd 14 12/23/20 2:07 PM