4 ms·

I’m an E.R. Doctor in New York. None of Us Will Ever Be the Same

63 points by astronaut_x 7y ago

tandr 7y ago
I would like to share [1] that my daughter brought to me yesterday as her reading assignment. It brings some of the points that society will face once the most terrible part of the pandemic is over. [1] https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/covid-19s-psychosocial-impacts/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/covid-19s-...
- Waterluvian 7y ago
  Thanks for sharing that. I work from home, my wife is a full time mom. My kids aren't school age yet. Practically speaking the pandemic has had almost no effect on our daily lives. But the article reminded me how when I go out to get groceries, it all comes rushing into focus. The world is unlike anything I've ever experienced. It's like aliens have transported us all to their close representation of Earth. Or if an American was kidnapped and wakes up in Canada. You recognize everything but it's just... Not quite right. That subtle wrongness is slowly taking a toll. I have a small cry in the parking lot after I've successfully navigated the grocery store and can finally let my guard down. It reminds me of "homesickness". A condition I've had a few times. I'm thrust into a different city or country because of a new internship or an award + conference trip. Both of which ended incredibly poorly and in both cases I abruptly went home and instantly got better. But I am home right now so I'm not sure where to go. I keep telling my wife, "it's starting to feel normalized." I'm still not sure if that's a good thing or not.
fzeroracer 7y ago
I have friends that are doctors or soon-to-be doctors. Some of the stuff I've heard from them as well as regional outlets always end up being horrifying and it doesn't help when we see downplaying of the issues coming from both the government and the mainstream media. With profits on the line, I guess it was to be expected. At the same time, I feel like this is going to be a watershed moment for our healthcare system. The average person may forget about it in due time, but the medical community watching their coworkers die and make life or death decisions due to shortages won't.
- WalterBright 7y ago
  Before blaming shortages on profits, read this: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-27/coronavirus-california-mobile-hospitals-ventilators https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-27/coronavi...
  - fzeroracer 7y ago
    That doesn't really disprove my point though, does it? We run our cities and governments like businesses whose goal is to bring down costs as much as possible. Getting rid of emergency prep makes the most sense from that perspective because you're hedging your bets on not needing it. It's the exact same thing corporations do when they don't proactively fix security vulnerabilities because they're hedging their bets that the cost of the problem will be less than the cost to prepare. We're going to have this problem as long as we demand taxes to be as low as possible.
    - WalterBright 7y ago
      > That doesn't really disprove my point though, does it? There is no such system that doesn't have budget shortfalls. Blaming it on profits is implies that non-profits don't have shortfalls. The California incident proves otherwise. > We're going to have this problem as long as we demand taxes to be as low as possible. The Washington State public schools have been angling to be "fully funded" ever since I remember. Being fully funded would solve all their funding issues. They finally got it. The ink wasn't dry on the legislation before they said that wasn't going to be nearly enough.
    - RaceWon 7y ago
      > Getting rid of emergency prep makes the most sense from that perspective because you're hedging your bets on not needing it. ... > We're going to have this problem as long as we demand taxes to be as low as possible The USA has enough nukes to destroy the Planet. We have enough Servers to copy everything transmitted. But we don't enough paper masks even though a Bio Attack is eminently possible (always has been) and certainly much more so in a post 9 11 America. I would submit for your consideration that giving more money to those so blissfully uninterested in protecting those under their watch is not the solution you imply it would be.
DrScump 7y ago
What is this site? This article is an uncredited rip of this NY Times article submitted earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22872494 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22872494 The site has no contact info that I can see.
- astronaut_x 7y ago
  You are right. I found the link on reddit and there was no indication that the whole article was copied from the NY Times, so I decided to share it. https://old.reddit.com/r/China_Flu/comments/g1kszp/im_an_er_doctor_in_new_york_none_of_us_will_ever/ https://old.reddit.com/r/China_Flu/comments/g1kszp/im_an_er_...
  - DrScump 7y ago
    Does the NY Times license you to "share" their content?
    - nate_meurer 7y ago
      What sort of "license" do you propose GP should try to get before posting a link on an internet forum?
      - DrScump 7y ago
        Do you seriously not understand the difference between posting a link to content and copying copyrighted content wholesale and reposting it verbatim, amd (initially) without credit?
        astronaut_x 7y ago
        I think you completely misunderstood me. I did not copy any content and I have no affiliation to that linked website. I just found the link to the article on reddit and decided to share it on HN, because I found it to be a worthwhile read. I was not aware that they copied the whole article from the NY Times.

63 points by astronaut_x 7y ago

I would like to share [1] that my daughter brought to me yesterday as her reading assignment. It brings some of the points that society will face once the most terrible part of the pandemic is over. [1] https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/covid-19s-psychosocial-impacts/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/covid-19s-...

Waterluvian 7y ago
Thanks for sharing that. I work from home, my wife is a full time mom. My kids aren't school age yet. Practically speaking the pandemic has had almost no effect on our daily lives. But the article reminded me how when I go out to get groceries, it all comes rushing into focus. The world is unlike anything I've ever experienced. It's like aliens have transported us all to their close representation of Earth. Or if an American was kidnapped and wakes up in Canada. You recognize everything but it's just... Not quite right. That subtle wrongness is slowly taking a toll. I have a small cry in the parking lot after I've successfully navigated the grocery store and can finally let my guard down. It reminds me of "homesickness". A condition I've had a few times. I'm thrust into a different city or country because of a new internship or an award + conference trip. Both of which ended incredibly poorly and in both cases I abruptly went home and instantly got better. But I am home right now so I'm not sure where to go. I keep telling my wife, "it's starting to feel normalized." I'm still not sure if that's a good thing or not.

fzeroracer 7y ago

I have friends that are doctors or soon-to-be doctors. Some of the stuff I've heard from them as well as regional outlets always end up being horrifying and it doesn't help when we see downplaying of the issues coming from both the government and the mainstream media. With profits on the line, I guess it was to be expected. At the same time, I feel like this is going to be a watershed moment for our healthcare system. The average person may forget about it in due time, but the medical community watching their coworkers die and make life or death decisions due to shortages won't.

WalterBright 7y ago
Before blaming shortages on profits, read this: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-27/coronavirus-california-mobile-hospitals-ventilators https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-27/coronavi...
- fzeroracer 7y ago
  That doesn't really disprove my point though, does it? We run our cities and governments like businesses whose goal is to bring down costs as much as possible. Getting rid of emergency prep makes the most sense from that perspective because you're hedging your bets on not needing it. It's the exact same thing corporations do when they don't proactively fix security vulnerabilities because they're hedging their bets that the cost of the problem will be less than the cost to prepare. We're going to have this problem as long as we demand taxes to be as low as possible.
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    > That doesn't really disprove my point though, does it? There is no such system that doesn't have budget shortfalls. Blaming it on profits is implies that non-profits don't have shortfalls. The California incident proves otherwise. > We're going to have this problem as long as we demand taxes to be as low as possible. The Washington State public schools have been angling to be "fully funded" ever since I remember. Being fully funded would solve all their funding issues. They finally got it. The ink wasn't dry on the legislation before they said that wasn't going to be nearly enough.
  - RaceWon 7y ago
    > Getting rid of emergency prep makes the most sense from that perspective because you're hedging your bets on not needing it. ... > We're going to have this problem as long as we demand taxes to be as low as possible The USA has enough nukes to destroy the Planet. We have enough Servers to copy everything transmitted. But we don't enough paper masks even though a Bio Attack is eminently possible (always has been) and certainly much more so in a post 9 11 America. I would submit for your consideration that giving more money to those so blissfully uninterested in protecting those under their watch is not the solution you imply it would be.

DrScump 7y ago

What is this site? This article is an uncredited rip of this NY Times article submitted earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22872494 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22872494 The site has no contact info that I can see.

astronaut_x 7y ago
You are right. I found the link on reddit and there was no indication that the whole article was copied from the NY Times, so I decided to share it. https://old.reddit.com/r/China_Flu/comments/g1kszp/im_an_er_doctor_in_new_york_none_of_us_will_ever/ https://old.reddit.com/r/China_Flu/comments/g1kszp/im_an_er_...
- DrScump 7y ago
  Does the NY Times license you to "share" their content?
  - nate_meurer 7y ago
    What sort of "license" do you propose GP should try to get before posting a link on an internet forum?
    - DrScump 7y ago
      Do you seriously not understand the difference between posting a link to content and copying copyrighted content wholesale and reposting it verbatim, amd (initially) without credit?
      - astronaut_x 7y ago
        I think you completely misunderstood me. I did not copy any content and I have no affiliation to that linked website. I just found the link to the article on reddit and decided to share it on HN, because I found it to be a worthwhile read. I was not aware that they copied the whole article from the NY Times.