Hospital staff was amazing in helping my dying sister
I want to share what I witnessed from the medical staff at the Royal Jubilee Hospital’s intensive care unit. The protests we saw the other day targeting hospitals, with the clear intention of intimidating nurses and doctors, and with the reported physical assault of a nurse has encourage me to share the experience of having just a week ago witnessing the passing of Kelly Ronningen, my sister, just 44 years old, from COVID-19.
The staff at RJH were truly amazing. One of the first things my sister said to me when I discovered she’d been admitted to ICU was “I’m scared. But I’ll be OK, they’re super good here.” She was immediately put at ease and made to feel comfortable and cared for by the medical staff.
While intubated, the nurse overseeing her care answered questions about her condition in detail, several times a day, and never once seemed inconvenienced by it, and was always polite, caring and concerned for how the family were doing.
When the time came that nothing further could be done and we were called to come to the ICU to witness her last moments, we were consoled by the nurses, and the critical care specialist overseeing her care called in from the emergency department to give my mom his heartfelt condolences and express his remorse at not being able to save her daughter.
While we were unable to enter her room due to COVID restrictions, and had to watch from outside her room looking in through a window as they disconnected her IV lines and her respirator, the nurse in the hospital room comforted my sister by stroking her head and spoke to her, reassuring her that her family was there. The other nurses working in the unit all gathered behind us and silently bore witness with us to her death.
And now to see and hear these selfish, self-centred and heartless protesters not content with simply spreading a dangerous message, but needing to intimidate and even assault people that are not only risking their health and potentially lives by working 12-hour shifts in a hospital with COVID infected patients, but managing to do so daily with compassion and with the humanity and dignity of everyone involved at the forefront of what they do, is infuriating.
I’m completely done with that nonsense. I have no tolerance left in me for it at all.
Cory Ronningen
Victoria
How about an ICU with unvaccinated staff?
I was ashamed and embarrassed to see protesters blocking access to hospitals under the guise of freedom to choose not to be vaccinated, and not to wear a mask.
Actions should have consequences. For the drunk driver, ICBC and private auto insurance will not cover your costs to repair or replace your car, nor will the insurers cover property damage and lawsuits from injury or death as a consequence of your choice to drive drunk.
Demerit points, loss of your licence, heavy fines, public shaming and even jail time are further consequences. At this time, there are minimal if any consequences for protestors of public health guidelines for masking and vaccinating.
Responsible Canadians must carry proof of auto insurance, and they must follow the rules of the road or there are consequences.
For the COVID “insurance” protestors, the fines (if levied) are not severe enough, and there are no arrests and jail time as consequences for irresponsible demonstrations outside hospitals.
Perhaps the medical system needs to follow the lead of the auto insurance companies. Imagine if we had a two-tier health care system, based upon COVID “insurance choice” and responsible behaviour.
The first intensive care unit is staffed by vaccinated doctors and nurses, and the second ICU is staffed by the unvaccinated.
This second tier ICU would be impossible to staff, even though the numbers of unvaccinated and critically ill covid patients would be overwhelming.
Guess which ICU the unvaccinated would choose for their critical care admission? As it stands, the hospitalized COVID protestors will get expensive and lifesaving treatment in the “vaccinated” ICU even though they choose to be uninsured.
Their choice is an unsound, indefensible, and morally reprehensible one, since there is overwhelming evidence of the benefit of following public health guidelines, including vaccination.
Catharine Dewar
recently retired physician
|Saanich
Exposing the nonsense of the anti-vax movement
In my time I’ve seen a number of ridiculous public displays, but the crass demonstrations of last week take the gold.
Crowds of unmasked, unvaccinated people protesting against COVID-limiting measures outside hospitals with beleaguered staff overrun by unvaccinated COVID patients.
I doubt there’s been a more idiotic public furore since Pope Gregory revised the calendar in 1582 to account for leap years, provoking riots with the rallying cry of “Give us back our 14 days.”
But maybe they’ve done us an unintended favour? They so clearly demonstrated the anti-vax movement’s abject nonsense, perhaps so bringing a number of people off the fence to get vaccinated.
Dr. Alec Mitchell
Victoria
No amount of logic will change these minds
Re: “COVID long hauler wants to reach out to anti-vaxxers,” Sep. 4.
It’s commendable that Sara Mitchell wants to do this, but I think she’ll have as much luck as trying to change the minds of strong anti-vaxxers as she would trying to convince religious fundamentalists to convert to atheism.
In trying to understand how the minds of anti-vaxxers work, I realized that an analogy to religion or cults works quite well. No amount of logic, reasoning or scientific arguing will change their minds.
Richard Kay
Victoria
Devil and Darwin in this COVID battle
Several years ago my running team attended a track and field meet at St. Thomas More Collegiate in Burnaby. The final event of the competition, called “The Devil Takes The Hind One,” was a tradition of the annual meet whereupon the school mascot dressed in a red devil suit with a pitchfork would grab the last-place runner at the end of each lap of an eight-lap race and escort them off the track until there were only three runners left. Those three would race for the medals.
This seems to be a great analogy of what is happening in our society.
The coronavirus (the Devil) is picking off the anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers (check out the stats on deaths, hospital and ICU admissions caused by COVID), who are the slowest to take precautions against catching the disease, one by one, thus increasing the odds of those following science and health guidelines to reach the finish line and reap the rewards of a “normal” life.
Most people are familiar with the Darwin Awards, where individuals who perform actions which are not well-thought-out, ill-advised or just plain stupid meet their demise.
According to the Darwin Awards gang, their removal from the population supposedly increases the overall mental strength of the species.
Microevolution, where individual populations can undergo significant change in a very short period of time due to a large environmental stressor, is being demonstrated right now.
Who would have thought that “The Devil” could improve the intelligence of the human species.
Greg Peters
Victoria
Two types of eyes in this COVID battle
At the recent mob fest in Victoria, I saw two sets of eyes.
The first, belonging to our care givers, were filled with compassion, caring and sadness as they have been since enjoining this battle against COVID-19.
The second belonged to the mob attendees whose eyes were so ablaze with hatred that even the spittle flowing from their screaming mouths could not dampen their fanatical gaze.
I predict that their eyes will change from anger to desperation and fear when they lie on that hospital bed holding the hand of a caregiver who knows that in moments, they will hear that last rattling breath, and the grim reaper will then take that dead hand and accompany it to the cold coroner’s vault.
As you look into the mirror, which set of eyes do you see?
Mike Thomas
Sooke
How will information be secured?
The discourse surrounding the controversial vaccine passport rollout seems absent of discussion regarding exactly what personal information will be contained within that “passport,” how it will be used and how it will be secured.
While it’s easy to climb on the “them or us” bandwagon on this issue one thing is clear: We need to question exactly what it is we’re asking for!
Calvin Wrench
Victoria
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