The Sudden Slump: When COVID Strikes Fast
“It’s like watching a movie in 30 minutes.” Diana Torres, a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, says it’s a terrifying speed test. “One moment the patient is fine, the next moment they’re unresponsive. I’m on high alert, like a spy every time I walk into their room.”
- Slot into the Epicenter: Over 415,000 people have already tested positive in New York alone.
- Even young and healthy folks can vanish into the backseat of a solidly breathing heart.
- The alarm is loud in every hospital lobby, from New York to Baton Rouge.
One case—Massive shock: Larry the Nurse from Our Lady of the Lake Hospital saw a young woman, just planning her wedding, disappear the next week. “The owner of the funeral plans still thinks she’s alive—but no—they’re gone.”
Same story at New York‑Presbyterian: A bright spark patient can enter with oxygen flowing like a river, laughing and chatting, and within a few hours be gasping for air, wheeled up to a ventilator, as if the virus had just taken a detour.
Why does the body turn on itself so fast? The answer: immune system > Overreaction. Dr. Otto Yang—UCLA expert—calls it a “cytokine storm.” The body’s defense shouts too loud, triggers high blood pressure, blown lungs, organ wreckage.
So far, the world’s 1.4 million infected and 83,400 dead. The speed of the downturn is a hard‑knock reality for doctors, nurses, and the patients’ loved ones. Their hope? Keep the wheel turning. Stay strong. The fight is far from over, but the story is still unfolding—one heartbeat at a time.
‘MELTDOWN’
When the Wave Hits Hard
Emily Muzyka, 25 and a nurse near New York, admits she hit the gut‑feel of exhaustion last week. A then–healthy 44‑year‑old patient woke up needing an intubation (a tube in the mouth to hook the patient to a ventilator) and Emily’s mind went blank. “I threw a little tantrum that night,” she confided. “I cried to my boyfriend.”
Covid‑19, the Triage of the Broken
Intubation is the emergency lifeline for folks in trouble breathing. Doctors first hope a patient will recover, but the virus can flip the script—
- Joe Anick Jesdanun, a 51‑year‑old marathoner and AP reporter, was once strolling in his 70s feet, but now the virus stole him on April 1.
- His cousin, Prinda Mulpramook, announced on Facebook that Joe blew out “13 hours later.”
- “He was fine in March, lungs clear, all good vibes,” the post said—until the sudden relapse.
The ICU Battle
Mount Sinai’s ICU nurse recalls patients’ kidneys shutting down FAST. She notes several require heavy doses of the blood thinner Heparin to keep blood from clumping. “They can go from hero to…0 in a snap,” she says. “We’re wrestling, trying to championthem.”
Doctors Over the Edge
According to Dr. Craig Smith at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, people on ventilators are stuck there for roughly two weeks on average. Meanwhile, New York‑Presbyterian’s emergency residents see a spike in deaths while on machines, with numbers still foggy amid the chaotic tide.
Medicine on the Wild Side
Some hospitals are throwing every drug into the mix, from untested meds to the anti‑malaria drug hydroxychloroquine. The resident at New York‑Presbyterian sums it up: “We’re basically tossing the whole kitchen sink at them.”
For the newest scoops on COVID‑19, keep an eye on health updates.
