(CBS) – New COVID-19 cases and deaths are going down nationwide after a devastating January spike, but inside many hospitals, health care workers on the front lines are grappling with their own mental health.
At Riverside University Health System Medical Center just outside Los Angeles, California, numerous doctors and nurses there have reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress. The Defense Department has sent 89 medical personnel to assist those front line health care workers.
“Today was a day,” Captain Joe Hargrave, an Army nurse, told CBS News’ David Begnaud, Hargrave had been at the hospital for more than three weeks, as part of his third COVID-19 deployment inside the U.S. The Defense Department sent medical personnel to assist the front line health care workers at the California hospital.
That day, he said two of his five patients took a sudden turn for the worse. “You just see them come in, they’re alert, they’re oriented, they’re talking to you,” Hargrave said. “And then just to see them decline at such a rapid rate — That was hard for me.” He continued, “Every time you go into the room, you just kind of have to be, like, ‘Okay,’ you know, ‘Focus on me. Don’t worry about the monitor. You’re doing well. You’re doing good.'” READ MORE
