LOUISVILLE, Ky. — LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – She’s the first call into the ER when a patient needs to be ventilated. Helen Crowe’s job description has evolved during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Forty-two years I have been a respiratory therapist and I have never in my career witnessed or been through anything like this,” Crowe said. “This week, I just extubated a patient and the first thing he did was started crying and he said I miss my wife, I need to talk to my wife.”
As a respiratory therapist, Crowe monitors ventilators, oxygen levels for patients with COVID-19 who are on respirators and those who are off them – all while tending to her regular patients with emphysema and asthma.
“When we are dealing with these patients, we are right in their face – everything they expel from their airways, whether it be spunal or secretions, we are right there getting most of what comes from that patient,” she said. “Not only is this physically challenging for us, emotionally, it’s draining theses patients. The hard part right now is we’re not allowed to have families here, so it’s very difficult.
Crowe fills in for family members who can’t be there with their loved ones. She holds the hands of those most vulnerable in moments that are grim, sacrificing not only her well-being, but her health.
“We don't know the outcome when we do this. Yes, we have people who don't recover from COVID-19 and those days are hard, because we just all get together and pray because we know the family wasn't here with them,” she said. “It doesn’t go away. You go home and you fear “do I have it, will I get it” because we have been exposed to it so much but at the end of the day, I’ve done some good.”
Crowe says she has missed precious moments that she will never get back like the recent birth of her grandchild.
“I have not seen him and that’s okay. We do social media. I look forward to seeing that baby, but I will keep him safe right now. So if I can do it and I can social distance, so can everyone.”
She says she hopes the pandemic will encourage those at home contemplating a medical career to go into respiratory therapy.
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