Behind the ventilator: Specialists provide breaths for COVID-19 patients
Cincinnati Enquirer: Rana Hejal, a clinical associate professor of medicine, discussed helping guide respiratory therapists on the frontlines of treating COVID-19. Patients on ventilators are sedated, said Hejal, so therapists often do not get to know them through conversation; however, Hejal said that communication with the patients’ families is a must. Yet, with COVID-19 restrictions to prevent its spread, that can be difficult, but that caregivers know they must make these electronic connections work: “We’ve tried to identify patients’ families—connect with the family members to update them, to hear from them. … We are limited in these areas on the phone, Facetime, sometimes in a Zoom meeting.”