The pandemic in the ICU: An Intensive Care Unit under siege in the time of novel coronavirus
Dr. Anita Sircar, left, with a COVID-19 patient at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance. Photo by Dr. Alex Hakim On March 15, a 50-year-old man who’d been feverish and coughing for the previous 10 days arrived at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center’s emergency department. His wife dropped him off at the entrance and by the time she’d parked, hospital workers had already taken the ailing man inside. Doctors were on the lookout for novel coronavirus cases, but as yet had little idea what exactly they were looking for. At that point, there were only 69 confirmed COVID-19 cases in LA County. Most were people who’d recently traveled abroad or had been in close contact with somebody who had. This patient, whose name was Ramon Zuniga, fit neither criteria. He was admitted to the regular hospital unit for treatment with antibiotics and oxygen. Zuniga had no underlying medical conditions, and so when his condition rapidly worsened, it caught everyone’s attention. What was happening to him wasn’t usual. His ability to breathe was drastically deteriorating. Within 24 hours, he was transferred to the ICU and put on a ventilator. Doctors had tested Zuniga…
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