A thread: about ICUs and Covid19Ab.

My husband and I were talking about why people aren’t really getting the message about how taxed the hospital system is right now and we are trying to understand why that is.

He thinks it’s because most people (fortunately) will never have to experience being hospitalized for anything serious, let alone end up in and ICU. They just don’t get it. #Covid19AB

So the whole concept of people that sick feels very removed for them. And no amount of Grey’s Anatomy watching will ever get people to really understand the gravity of things in a real ICU.
#covid19Ab

My husband and I have seen that side of things and it’s devastating. ICU’s are the last place you want to be and also, if you are that sick, the only place you want to be. And the people who work in ICU’s are literal angels on earth. #covid19ab

(Trigger warning - ICU image coming in next tweet) This is the reality of an ICU admission. And this is pre-Covid, now, you (the loved ones), would not be allowed in the unit. Now you may get to Facetime with your family member - who may or may not be conscious. #covid19ab

This is the moment my son coded (his heart stopped) in the ICU. He was here because he had a lung infection that went septic and put his tiny body into shock and every organ system in him was shutting down. These people all saved his life.

But here is what I want everyone to understand... my son’s infection was caused by a common bacteria. The word on the playground that week what’s that “strep throat was going around”. For many kids, it wasn’t a big deal. For mine - it meant this.

#COVID19AB is like this.

It will just feel like a bad flu for most people, but for others, they will end up here, in an ICU, with machines breathing for them and pumping their blood. They will be surrounded by a team of incredible HCWs, but no family. They might not make it out of the ICU. #COVID19AB

My child did make it out & survive. But he also has major complications because of his illness and his treatment. He had a stoke, he lost function in one side of his body and had to be in a rehab hospital for months to regain his strength.

#COVID19ab is also like this.

This isn’t easy for me to share and relive, but I am doing it so that people can see and understand how and what happens in an ICU. Do you see how many people (doctors and nurses and RTs) are in that room? If they get sick, who looks after our loved ones? #COVID19AB

We do NOT have 600+ ICU beds in Alberta - we don’t have the staff (specialist nurses and doctors and respiratory therapists) to manage that amount of beds. Our current ICUs are almost at capacity - if that scares some people - GOOD! We should be scared. #COVID19AB

Our provincial leaders are letting us down and since that’s the case, yes, it’s now on us to TAKE THIS SITUATION INTO OUR OWN HANDS AND DO THE RIGHT THINGS.

You don’t have to wait for an official #lockdown order to do it yourself.

#StayHomeSaveLives #ableg #COVID19AB

I never want to be in an ICU AGAIN! I don’t want more people to have to say goodbye to a loved one over an iPhone. I want us all to be safe and do the right thing, not just for ourselves, but for strangers too. #COVID19AB wont stop infecting people just because we want it to.

I’m imploring all Albertans to please stay home these next few weeks. Go out for necessities only. Get takeaway food, or curbside pick up Xmas shopping. Don’t go to other people’s houses. Don’t go to church or other events. #COVID19AB #ableg

We have to do the right thing, BECAUSE our provincial leaders won’t.

Thanks for reading and sharing.

Be safe everyone,
N~

#covid19ab