florida-doctor-returns-after-helping-fight-covid

Florida doctor returns after helping fight Covid

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PROFESSIONALS AND THE PATIENTS THERE. BACK HOME, HE SPOKE WITH WESH 2’S PAUL RIVERA WITH AN URGENT WARNING AS MANY GATHER FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON. >> PROBABLY THE FIRST TIME IN MY MEDICAL CAREER I WAS AFRAI PAUL: THIS IS CENTRAL FLORIDA E.R. DR. JOHN MURRAY AND A LAKE COUNTY RESIDENT, TALKING ABOUT HIS RECENT DEPLOYMENT TO BILLINGS, MONTANA, AS COVID CASES THERE QUICKLY GROW. >> BECAUSE I SAW THESE PEOPLE, AND I GO, OH, MY GOD, THAT COULD BE MY LOVED ONE. THAT COULD BE ME. I WAS AFRAID, HOW ARE WE GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THEM? PAUL: MURRAY IS PART OF A TEAM OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS THAT RESPONDS TO HEALTH EMERGENCIES. >> I’VE NEVER SEEN THIS IN 35 YEARS WHERE YOU HAVE TWO ICU PATIENTS IN THE SAME ROOM, BOTH OF THEM INTUBATED, AND IT LOOKS LIKE SPAGHETTI COMING OUT WITH 10 DIFFERENT I.V. LINES. I HAD ONE DAY OFF OUT OF 14, AND DURING THAT DAY, I WAS CALLED MIDDLE DAY BECAUSE THE DOCTOR WHO SUPPOSED TO BE THERE, HIS SISTER TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID, WHO HE LIVES WITH. PAUL: DESPITE THE DIRE OUTLOOK, MURRAY SAYS HEALTH WORKERS THERE ARE HOLDING THEIR GROUND. >> BILLINGS IS SEEING THIS INFLUX FROM THREE OTHER STATES, AS WELL AS THEIR OWN PEOPLE IN MONTANA, WHO ARE COMING IN, AND WERE JUST KIND OF GETTING OVERWHELMED, BUT THEY’VE REACTED QUITE WELL TO IT, I HAVE TO SAY. PAUL: AND WITH ALL THE HOLIDAY TRAVEL, MURRAY HAS WORRIES. >> I DON’T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN TO US, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW WE’RE KIND OF LACKADAISICAL. PAUL: EVEN WITH VACCINES RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. >> IT’S EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO BE CAREFUL BECAUSE THERE IS LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. IT IS COMING, BUT IT DOESN’T DO YOU ANY GOOD IF BETWEEN NOW AND A FEW MONTHS YOU GET THIS. PAUL: PAUL RIVERA, WESH 2 NEWS. JIM: DR. MURRAY SAYS EVEN IF MORTALITY RATES DECLINE, IT’S STILL IMPORTANT TO PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST THE VIRUS, AS THERE ARE COVID SYMPTOMS T

‘I was afraid,’ Central Florida doctor returns after helping in Montana COVID fight

Central Florida ER doctor and Lake County resident John Murray spoke to WESH 2 News about his recent deployment to Billings, Montana, as coronavirus cases there quickly grow.”Probably the first time in my medical career, I was afraid because I saw these people and I go, ‘oh my God, that could be my loved one. That could be me,’” Murray said. “I was afraid, how are we going to take care of them?”Murray is part of a team of medical professionals that responds to health emergencies around the country.”I’ve never seen this in 35 years where you have two ICU patients in the same room, both of them intubated and it looks like a spaghetti coming out with 10 different IV lines,” he said. “I had one day off, out of 14, and during that day, I was called middle day because the doctor who was supposed to be there, his sister tested positive for COVID who he lives with,” Murray added.Despite the dire outlook, Murray said health workers there are holding their ground.”Billings is seeing this influx from three other states, as well as their own people in Montana who are coming in and were just kind of getting overwhelmed, but they’ve reacted quite well to it, I have to say,” he said.With the holiday travel, Murray said he worries. “I don’t want that to happen to us because right now we’re kind of lackadaisical.”He adds that even with vaccines right around the corner, it is still important to protect yourself.”It’s even more important to be careful because there is light at the end of the tunnel. It is coming, but it doesn’t do you any good if between now and a few months you get this,” Murray said.Murray said even if mortality rates decline, the virus can still leave lasting health problems as there are coronavirus symptoms that last for weeks, months and maybe longer, that we are just now learning more about.This is Murray’s second COVID related deployment. In April, WESH 2 News spoke to him after a trip to California, while they were dealing with cases on a cruise ship. View the story, HERE.Related: ‘I saw families ripped apart’: Seminole County doctor returns from treating sick cruise passengers

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. —

Central Florida ER doctor and Lake County resident John Murray spoke to WESH 2 News about his recent deployment to Billings, Montana, as coronavirus cases there quickly grow.

“Probably the first time in my medical career, I was afraid because I saw these people and I go, ‘oh my God, that could be my loved one. That could be me,’” Murray said. “I was afraid, how are we going to take care of them?”

Murray is part of a team of medical professionals that responds to health emergencies around the country.

“I’ve never seen this in 35 years where you have two ICU patients in the same room, both of them intubated and it looks like a spaghetti coming out with 10 different IV lines,” he said. “I had one day off, out of 14, and during that day, I was called middle day because the doctor who was supposed to be there, his sister tested positive for COVID who he lives with,” Murray added.

Despite the dire outlook, Murray said health workers there are holding their ground.

“Billings is seeing this influx from three other states, as well as their own people in Montana who are coming in and were just kind of getting overwhelmed, but they’ve reacted quite well to it, I have to say,” he said.

With the holiday travel, Murray said he worries. “I don’t want that to happen to us because right now we’re kind of lackadaisical.”

He adds that even with vaccines right around the corner, it is still important to protect yourself.

“It’s even more important to be careful because there is light at the end of the tunnel. It is coming, but it doesn’t do you any good if between now and a few months you get this,” Murray said.

Murray said even if mortality rates decline, the virus can still leave lasting health problems as there are coronavirus symptoms that last for weeks, months and maybe longer, that we are just now learning more about.

This is Murray’s second COVID related deployment.

In April, WESH 2 News spoke to him after a trip to California, while they were dealing with cases on a cruise ship. View the story, HERE.

Related: ‘I saw families ripped apart’: Seminole County doctor returns from treating sick cruise passengers