Today was a different type of day for me in New Jersey. I didn't start my emergency airway shift until 7pm, so I had all day to get a few things done and relax. Some of the things I needed to get done were, get my new badge, scrub access, access to medications and orient at the new hospital, St. Barnabas, where I start ICU on Thursday. Yesterday, I got an email saying the local police and fire departments were going to have a parade around St. Barnabas hospital to honor the healthcare workers at 12:45 today. Who doesn't love a parade?! So I scheduled my orientation to the hospital for 1:15 pm.
I arrived at St. Barnabas about a half hour before the parade was scheduled to begin and scoped out a good spot to video the parade. The email stated available healthcare workers were either to go outside or go to the windows to view the parade. As parade time approached, doctors, nurses, orderlies, techs, housekeeping, etc. started trickling outside lining the parade route (not exactly practicing social distancing) and seemed uplifted at a time everyone needs something to make them smile.
This is just a short clip of a much longer parade. Police agencies, fire departments, EMS, and even the transit authority showed up. In all, I heard there were over a hundred vehicles from over twenty local agencies.
Before the parade started and after it ended, this man, a member of a local police department serenaded the onlookers. It was beautiful. I hope they do the same sort of thing for Beth Israel Hospital, a hospital in a much poorer section of Newark and servicing an indigent population. Everyone needs a lift.
After the parade was over I headed into the hospital to meet with the medical director of anesthesia, get my badges and a tour of the hospital, particularly the ICU's where I will be working. While we were touring the hospital the song "Brave" by Sara Bareilles came over the PA. I was told it was played for every extubation or discharge of a COVID-19 patient. I heard the song four times while I was in the hospital. Unfortunately, I was also told by the medical director I was orienting with, that an anesthesiologist I had worked with the past three days was home isolating, symptomatic and febrile as of this morning. The parade is over, back to real life. Thats all for now.
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