Nurse dies two weeks after rushing without N95 mask to save coronavirus patient

[Boats]

Nurse dies two weeks after rushing without N95 mask to save coronavirus patient
By: Jackie Salo - New York Post - 05-11-20
Re: https://nypost.com/2020/05/11/nurse-...virus-patient/

Photo link: https://thenypost.files.wordpress.co...rip=all&w=1286
Nurse Celia Lardizabal Marco

A Los Angeles nurse succumbed to coronavirus just two weeks after rushing without an N95 mask into an infected patient’s room to save his life, according to a report.

Celia Marcos, 61, was only protected by a surgical mask when she gave chest compressions to a man who stopped breathing at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Marcos texted her niece about how she was the “one right in front of his face,” knowing that she’d likely exposed herself to the virus, according to the report.

“Celia was called to a COVID-19 isolation room while wearing only a surgical mask — not the required N95 respirator, gown, face shield, and booties that her hospital should have given her for her protection,” said Nina Wells, who is the president of the SEIU 121RN, a Southern California nurses union, in a statement to the newspaper.

Colleagues said that Marcos had known that going to obtain PPE would waste valuable time that could potentially save the patient’s life, the outlet reported.

“The hospital wasn’t giving us appropriate PPE — the N95s were locked,” a nurse told the outlet.

Three days later, Marcos fell sick with the virus and later told her family that she developed pneumonia in both lungs, the outlet reported.

Marcos, who was previously healthy, went into cardiac arrest as she battled the virus, requiring resuscitation of her multiple times, the newspaper reported.

She died on April 17, just two weeks after she put her life at risk to save the patient, according to the report.

“It’s just too painful for everybody, what happened to her,” her colleague told the outlet.

The hospital has denied that Marcos didn’t have the proper PPE to treat the patient.

“Despite these efforts, and our commitment to following all guidelines, we still lost one of our own to this terrible virus, and we feel this loss very deeply,” the hospital said in a statement to the newspaper.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Personal note: Our thoughts and prayer's go out to Nurse Marcos Family and Friends and we thank her for taking care of the welfare of her patience. Her sacrifice is one of many who've been on line taking care of the coronovirus patients. We can only hope their is a light at the end of the tunnel in the next six months or so - but a vaccine is the only thing that will bring this God awful decease to an end.

Boats