Rice stated in the TikTok that all thirty patients she was caring at the time of recording were not vaccinated. Mae Rice
The overwhelming sounds of an ICU packed with nurses was the viral video of a nurse.
California Department of Health contacted Rice to request her video for a PSA.
Insider spoke to two people who were vaccinated following the viral video.
For more stories, visit Insider's homepage.
Recent viral TikTok begins with the question, "Did you know that COVID has sound?"
Mae Rice is a nurse in a travel intensive care unit. She sat down for a brief moment during her overnight shift and stared into the camera until the screen went black. Then the constant beeping begins. The alarm sounds when a vital sign reaches a critical level, as the text below explains.
They cannot be silenced for longer than 10 seconds and the Georgia hospital's ICU is full, they would blare non-stop throughout the night. She wrote that most of the 30 patients Rice was caring at the time wouldn't live the next few days. All of them were not vaccinated.
Rice posted the video under Rice's handle @nurse_sushi. It doesn't look remarkable among all of the COVID-19 content on TikTok. However, her comments were filled with people stating that the video had inspired them to get vaccinated days later.
Rice said that the sound Rice was referring to in her video is a beeping noise.
Rice believed that hearing the constant alarms would cause panic a few months back as Delta surged. Rice said, "It was like holding your head in your hands and then you were like, 'Why won’t it stop? It must stop. She said, "Make the sound stop."
Many people found Rice's video to be a visual representation of the suffering of COVID-flooded ICUs.
Insider was able to hear from some TikTok commenters who were so affected by the video's emotional edge that they sought out vaccinations.
Continue the story
This video inspired people get vaccinated
Sarah Draissi is a Philadelphia 21-year old hospitality worker. She said that she had put a lot of effort learning about COVID-19 online. She was still not vaccinated by August.
Although she was proud of her ability to distinguish misinformation from facts, the sheer amount of misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccination made her question whether it could be true.
Draissi stated that TikTok's health care workers are usually in their homes and just finished a long shift. They're also tired. She said that seeing them outside the hospital didn't convince her.
Draissi was visiting her Florida family when Rice's video was shown to her. She immediately made an appointment to be vaccinated when she returned to Philadelphia. She said, "I used my phone to make an appointment for the day that my flight landed."
"What stuck with me the most was when she said, ‘There’s nothing we can do to help these people.’" Draissi stated. To be honest, it made me feel stupid. Because I have something I can do while I am healthy, and not in an ICU.
Shae Garbe, a Wisconsin 23-year old, delayed getting vaccinated before he saw the video in bed. Garbe stated, "It's easy not to pay attention when something isn't right in your face. But that video was so immersive."
She froze when she realized Rice's patients weren't all vaccinated. "I watched it several times, then I grabbed my keys. Garbe stated that he was vaccinated about a half hour later.
Garbe and Draissi have shared the video since then with their friends and families.
Rice stated that she received a call from the California Department of Health approximately one week after she posted the video. Rice has agreed to allow the TikTok to run her TikTok in October and November as a statewide announcement.
"I hear it every time I get out of work. It's a sound I hear while driving. It's a sound I hear while I shower. Rice described the telemetry alarm as "I hear it while I lay down to go to bed." Rice said that she had replaced her coffeemaker last month because the sound of the alarm resounded in her mind.
Insider has the original article.
