HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — "The difficulty this year is just the tremendous number, you know, we can't grieve one patient before we have to go take care of another," said Dr. James Boyle, MD, a pulmonologist at Decatur Morgan Hospital.
With hospitals filling up with COVID patients and some resources running low, health care professionals may be forced to make difficult choices.
"Counties all over North Alabama have reached record numbers of new cases in the last week. We now realize it is quite possible that we will exhaust all of our resources and we may have to decide which patients get the resources we have available," said Boyle, with emotion in his voice.
Boyle has been working in the area for over twenty years and has never seen anything like this
"I've been practicing in this county since '98, I've never had more than two or three people on ventilators with the flu in the last twenty years. We always have a lot of patients in the ICU in the wintertime, to have 16 patients on ventilators, with an illness we don't usually have, is just unprecedented, which is the word of the year I guess," said Boyle.
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He also shares frustrations when it comes to those who can't seem to do the bare minimum in stopping the spread of the virus.
"It's a little disappointing that we can't get people to do the basics, to wear a mask, to separate, you know, it's easy to go into a convenience store and see people not wearing a mask. It's just, it's a little defeating," said Boyle.
But on the other hand, he leaves us with a message, reminding us how we can play our part in putting an end to COVID-19.
"I ask everyone to be kind during these stressful times, please be safe, wear your mask and sanitize, I hope you and your family have do have a Merry Christmas," said Boyle.
