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Sharing this to give everyone an idea of how things can play out if you live in a coronavirus hot zone right now—ie how limited the system is despite best efforts of first responders, and how much of your survival may depend on luck:
A (close family) friend’s household was likely exposed to COVID-19. They all got sick with various symptoms including diarrhea. One was elderly and frail, the other three advanced middle age
The younger 3 cared for the eldest as they all sheltered in place. They knew the situation at the hospitals so they did not go to ER, but were able to test blood oxygen levels at home and did so.
One morning last week, the blood oxygen level of the eldest person in the family (the father) dropped below 80 and he stopped breathing. They called 911. They sounded like they were in complete shock.
Police arrived, confirmed their father had passed, and recommended they find a funeral home to collect the body or else it would be harder to reclaim their father from the city.
A search ensued with the help of family and friends. No funeral homes in all of Queens had the capacity to collect the body any time within 3 days. They called 311, which had exactly zero information about what their options were.
By the end of the day, the family members were so drained they could barely speak (remember, they ALL were sick). They called the police back. It was well into the early hours of the morning when someone arrived.
They were told they had a short window of time to collect the body (from my own research I assume after this window it would go to a mass grave, but I wasn’t the one who spoke to authorities). Everyone resumed another round of calls to funeral homes and they all declined.
Luckily the following day, another (exceptionally persistent) family friend knew a funeral home she had used before and convinced them to help. But by this time, 2 of the 3 remaining family members were getting worse.
The eldest, who had underlying health issues, passed out. Home tests showed both of their blood oxygen levels had dropped to 85, which is critically low. Their own doctor was not reachable so they called a doctor who happened to be related to a friend.
That doctor told them she was certain from their symptoms they have the coronavirus. She said 85 blood oxygen level requires medical assistance and advised them to go to the hospital immediately. Only one of them has a license, but he was too sick to drive.
So they called an ambulance. When it arrived, they took another test and oxygen levels bounced back to 87, so they did not qualify for admittance to the hospital (85 is the threshold).
Meanwhile, they were told only the oldest remaining family member (the one who fainted) qualified for a COVID-19 test, which takes time to get results for.
As all of this is happening, news reports say temporary facilities at the Javits Center and on the ship are largely empty, and accepting COVID-19 patients.
I don’t know how that is being managed, but rumor is that you can only be admitted if you get tested and the test comes back positive (if you can make it to a testing site and live long enough to get the results).
Whatever the reason, the bottom line is, regardless of how much capacity exists in NYC, passing out and being so short of breath you’re unable to drive, and the professional opinion of a physician that you have the coronavirus, does not qualify you for care in Flushing, currently
By chance, another family friend read about a consumer-grade oxygen machine that people were talking about in Taiwan. Another series of phone calls uncovered a local pharmacy that carried it for $700. The youngest and only one with enough energy, went out on foot to get it.
The family is now taking turns on the machine, and their oxygen levels are stabilizing. It’s impossible to know whether the machine made a difference. They continue to monitor themselves.
If it goes back below 85, they will call the ambulance again. At that point it will be a gamble to see if they qualify for testing and can hold out until the testing then qualities them access to other care.
I can only imagine all the other families going through this exact situation right now. We are all utterly helpless. I wish you all the best, I hope no one you love has to endure any of this; and if you’ve lost someone I am so very sorry.
