BOISE (AP) The St. Luke's Boise Medical Center's intensive care rooms are full. Each room is a blurring jungle of wires, tubes and mechanical breathing machines. There are many patients inside: They are all unvaccinated, most of them middle-aged, or younger, and are dependent on life support.
Watch for a second, and you will see glimpses of their lives before the coronavirus.
A man in his 30s has his forearm covered in tattoos. As a nurse adjusts the position of an expectant mother, her slightly swollen stomach is revealed. The young woman is five-months pregnant and connected to a breathing machine.
Another pregnant woman, only 24 years old, lies down on her ventilator to help her developing baby breathe.
This week Idaho was hit by a terrible COVID-19 trifecta, with record-breaking numbers of ICU patients, hospitalizations, and emergency room visits. Experts predict that the conservative state will see as many as 30,000 new infections per week by mid September.
Idaho's health care providers are facing a crisis. With an acute shortage of staff and hospital beds, and the lowest rates of vaccinations in the country, they are becoming desperate. They are preparing to implement crisis standards of care that require them to give scarce resources to patients who have the best chance of survival.
St. Luke's Boise Medical Center invited The Associated Press to its ICUs this week, in the hope that people would change their behavior by sharing the terrible reality.
This is a huge area of loss, but it can be prevented. This is not about the loss of life. It's almost like losing hope, Dr. Jim Souza, chief physician, stated. We in health care thought it was like the cavalry crossing the hill when the vaccines were released in December. ... To see what's happening now? It's so unnecessary."
Kristen Connelly, a fellow nurse, and others often gather in the ICUs to turn each patient over. They must be careful not to disconnect the many wires and tubes that keep them alive. Turning a patient, which involves the use of breathing tubes, feeding tubes, and half a dozen hanging bags containing medications to stop a cascade in organ damage, is a risky but necessary task that occurs twice daily.
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Connelly was not intimidated by the coronavirus patients at Idaho's hospitals last winter. She believed she could make an impact and wasn't afraid to take on more. Connelly now cares for many patients, rather than focusing on one. Many of her colleagues quit because they were overwhelmed by the demands of the pandemic.
I'm overwhelmed at this point. I don't have much left," the 26-year ICU nursing veteran stated Tuesday.
Connelly's life is currently in triage mode, as she attempts to preserve her energy. Connelly no longer eats at home and has stopped all other activities, except walking her dog. Connelly's normally deep senses of compassion, which she considers a crucial job skill, have been shadowed now by an uncontrollable anger.
Connelly stated that we had a mother and daughter team at the hospital last week. The mother died, but the daughter was still there. That moment gave me a break from my anger and allowed me to feel overwhelmed by sadness.
She said it was devastating. It is possible to avoid where we are now. We didn't have to get here.
Dr. Bill Dittrich stated that all of the ICU coronavirus victims were healthy individuals who didn't get vaccinated. Idaho could quickly adopt crisis care standards, leaving Dr. Bill Dittrich to make difficult decisions about who receives life-saving treatment.
I don't think anyone will ever be able to have the conversations or make the decisions that we are going to need to in the next few weeks. Dittrich stated that he was really afraid.
Souza, the chief physician, stated that most of the ICU patients were con artists before falling ill with the virus. He cites a patient who tried the anti-parasite drug, ivermectin, for the first time. U.S. health officials warn against using it to treat COVID-19. He was in his 50s and refused to accept standard medical treatment until he became so sick that he had to be admitted to hospital.
The only thing left was organ supportive therapy. Souza stated that misinformation can harm people and kill people.
What is the science? He said vaccines. Here, we don't have any vaccine-vaccinated patients.
However, in deep-red Idaho vaccinations, masks, and almost anything that is coronavirus-related are de facto the borderline between traditional Republicans and the far right.
Republican Governor Brad Little encouraged residents to love their neighbors this week and announced that he would use federal programs and mobilize the Idaho National Guard in order to bring in hundreds more health care workers. Lt. Governor. Janice McGeachin called this statement shameful.
McGeachin is running against Little in Republican gubernatorial primaries. He has attempted to ban schools and cities from enacting rules about masks, but McGeachin said that people should make their own decisions regarding their health.
Locally, the rift is also evident. Ada County commissioners voted in favor of a local pathologist being appointed to a regional board for public health. He has referred to COVID-19 vaccinations as needle rape or the clot shot.
Even those who have seen the horrors of COVID-19 firsthand, are not on the same side.
Jeff Scott, Lisa Owens' stepbrother of 48 years, is currently in Boise's ICU since August.
Owens explained that my kids call him "The Candy Man" because he brings candy whenever he visits. He is a kind, loving, and jovial man. I wish he had been vaccinated.
Along with approximately half her extended family, she's been vaccinated. Scott, Scott's aunt and uncle, Scotts niece, and Scotts daughter are all vaccinated. Owens stated that her stepbrother probably got COVID-19 from her aunt and uncle. Although the aunt was admitted to hospital, she has since been able to recover from blood clots caused by the virus.
Owens stated that these experiences actually strengthened the anti-vaccination beliefs of other family members.
They see Jeff in the hospital, but also visit his aunt and uncle. And they are fine. According to the last update, even if he recovers, he's still looking at eight months of rehabilitation. If he does recover, I will march him to the nearest vaccination clinic.
Owens is concerned that her stepbrother could be removed from life support if someone has a greater chance of survival.
It's not something I want to even think about. I don't even want to think about it. He's been there for over a month. They will say that he is not improving enough, and he's not, she explained, shedding tears. I wish he can pull through.
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This story has been updated with the correct last name of the man in ICU. He is Jeff Scott and not Jeff Owens.
