An eyewitness to history, N.J. hospital photographer captures the horror and hope in a pandemic

[demmiblue]

The man was fading as his final hours neared.

An oxygen mask covered his gaunt face, connected to the ventilator that breathed for him. His eyes were closed and his head lolled to the left as a nurse wearing protective gear embraced him.

Louis “Louie” Schmidt’s battle with COVID-19 was coming to an end. And photographer Jeff Rhode was there at his bedside to document it in haunting, black-and-white images.

They knew this was Louie’s deathbed. And this was their vigil, held by the Holy Name Medical Center caregivers who adopted the 74-year-old man without a family.

Later that day, Schmidt died, becoming one of the 11,339 New Jersey residents who have succumbed to the coronavirus, including 224 at the Teaneck hospital. Rhode, Holy Name’s multimedia specialist, has captured many of their brave struggles with COVID-19 in stark photos since the pandemic hit the Garden State in March.

https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/05/an-eyewitness-to-history-nj-hospital-photographer-captures-the-horror-and-hope-in-a-pandemic.html

I still don't think people grasp the enormity of what our healthcare workers are going to face in the near future in terms of PTSD, especially the nurses.

[Dale Neiburg]

1. PTSD is going to be a serious problem.

A good friend, whose daughter is an ER nurse in Nashville, is already talking about it as a reality.

Having worked in the nursing division of a major hospital myself whn I was young, without a pandemic, I know how stressful it gets. The thought of working in the field now is the stuff of nightmares.