During this time of pause, we are taking a pause on our current messaging now to recognize all the women heroes, front liners and first responders and scientists that are quietly saving our lives. Everyday.
Women lead from wherever they are, and that’s never been more true than during the COVID-19 crisis. Women are on the front lines. They are
the majority of critical healthcare workers
, nurses, and aides. They are our unsung heroes. Women are leading the communal response. The stories of resilience are countless: the little free libraries
turned into
little free grocery stores. The women and girls
crafting
thousands upon thousands of last-line-of-defense face masks. The female bakers and chefs, caterers and florists, small business owners, and teachers offering resources to in-need neighbors, even if it impacts their ability to sustain beyond the crisis.
Millions of health care workers—physicians, nurses, technicians, other health care professionals, and hospital support staff, as well as first responders including emergency rescue personnel, law enforcement officers, and others who provide essential services and products—around the world have faced the challenge of providing care for patients with COVID-19, while often ill-equipped and poorly prepared, risking their own lives to save the lives of others. They honor us all with their commitment, dedication, and professionalism.
We want you to know that we appreciate every moment of expertise and compassion that you have to give.
Let’s celebrate these women and many more to come over the next few weeks. Stay safe and healthy and peace to all.
T
his is # 4 in the series that will inspire.
Dr. Poonam Desai
This weeks unsung hero
Dr. Poonam Desai is a New York City emergency room doctor. Desai is pregnant and tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of March and is continuing to see patients virtually as she recovers from mild symptoms. She shares her story with us:
This is something that many of us ER doctors — many of us physicians — have never seen before.
We're facing a virus that we know very little about. Even in my wildest dreams, I would never have imagined that I'd be a frontline health care worker during a pandemic. It's not something that I thought about or was really mentally or emotionally prepared for.
The hardest thing for all of us, as ER doctors and health care workers, was grasping the reality of it — that there are sick people and we're not going to be able to save everybody.
We've come a long way in the last few weeks in better understanding the symptoms and trying to manage COVID-19 the best we can, with the limited data that we do have.
Another difficult thing for us, as physicians, is not being able to fully understand the disease, not being able to provide some type of cure, and not being able to save all the lives we want to save, along with, obviously, what the mass media has been talking about —
the lack of PPE
. Many hospitals, [health care] spaces, and many health care workers are facing it. That's huge because people don't want to go home and bring this home to themselves or their loved ones.
People feel like, 'Oh, COVID-19 may be a death sentence.' It's scary and yes, many people do get very sick, but a lot of people do very well with the disease, and I think a little bit of optimism does help during this time.
I didn't know how sick I was going to get initially when I started getting symptoms. Day one, day two — I didn't know what was going to happen on day seven and day nine. That is, and that was, the scariest part for me. I was fortunate enough to get a test because I'm an ER doctor. I was fortunate enough to get tested very early to know whether or not I should be going to work, and potentially exposing myself to more of a viral load.
Initially, they had told us, at one of the hospitals I was thinking of delivering at, that they had banned anybody from coming [into the delivery room]. I couldn't have taken my husband if I was going to deliver. Luckily, that changed very quickly. It would be very scary to be in the hospital, to be scared that you may potentially get COVID-19, and that you may be separated from your baby for at least seven to 14 days if you do test positive for COVID-19. And then to not have your partner there throughout the whole process. For many, many people that I was talking to, nationally, globally, that was a huge fear for them.
Protect your health care workers, because if we fall sick, we can't be there to take care of the patients. Have enough proper PPE nationally and globally, and get all the information out to the people as quickly as possible. That means stay at home and tell them to stay home from the get go and avoid having so many mixed messages.
I’m 29 weeks, I'm just starting my third trimester, and I would love to go back to work as soon as possible.
I enjoy what I do and there's a greater sense of purpose and satisfaction, being there on the frontlines and helping, especially during a pandemic.
This story has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Courtesy Credit: Global Citizen
PINKK on POINT: "A little optimism does help during this time. Believe in each other."
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We do know we need inspiration of all sorts, and we always need to celebrate so stay tuned as we may be back to music soon or other inspirational sources as we need to celebrate together. We get it.
If there is someone you want to celebrate here and now during this crisis, or a team you want to acknowledge send a note to
info@pinkknow.com
. We are committed to supporting you.
