Wyoming Medical Center’s first experience with a severe coronavirus patient came through a panicked phone call.
The doctor on the line was from another hospital in Wyoming. They were frantic. A patient in their 20s had come in that day. On paper, in theory, such a young patient should’ve responded well to a respiratory virus that is most dangerous to the elderly. But in short order, the patient’s condition deteriorated rapidly; they grew ill, seriously ill. Their oxygen levels plunged.
As the doctor spoke to WMC’s Dr. Tola Akiode, staff were “bagging” the patient — using a device to pump oxygen into the lungs like bellows into a fire.