Bomfalk, who has been volunteering in New York for many weeks, shared this staged photo documenting the hardship and chaos that New York hospitals faced during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We staged what the acute area of the ER area looked like during the peak of the virus, in one of the resuscitation rooms,” Bomfalk adds. “Of course, we are missing ventilators, IV poles, massive O2 tanks, but seeing this brings back an abundance of emotions I can’t explain.”
Medina County women and nurses, Stefani Bomfalk and Shauna Davis, are both returning home soon, after a long volunteering for several weeks on the front lines of the pandemic in New York hospitals that were simply overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.
Bomfalk stated, “As I prepare to head home, I won’t ever forget what I saw. No one could have prepared me for the medical war zone I witnessed my first day in the hospital. A few hours into my first shift, I text my family that I didn’t think I could do this…it was the worst thing I had ever seen in my life. Six weeks later, I have mixed feelings about leaving. I’m ready to go home, but not ready to leave here. I think about my patients and their families all the time and hope they find peace. It has definitely gotten better since I’ve been here, but it’s far from over. See you soon Texas.”
“Yesterday, in the acute area of the ER we staged what the area looked like during the peak of the virus, in one of the resuscitation rooms,” Bomfalk adds (referring to the photo of the overcrowded ER. “Of course, we are missing ventilators, IV poles, massive O2 tanks, but seeing this is a grim perspective for me and brings back an abundance of emotions I can’t explain).”
While Bomfalk and Davis (who’s story can be seen in a separate article) are returning home to Medina County, another hometown girl, Lana Marie is just beginning her service in the busy New York hospitals.
“I went into nursing specifically to help in dire emergencies,” Marie said, feeling a calling to help in New York as they have been hit the hardest. After a one-day orientation, she began her work on the frontlines.
“I have encountered many patients, both very critical facing a hard battle, and patients on their way out the door happily returning home. I have seen patients that have had a lung transplant, came back positive for COVID, and struggling with maximum oxygen supplementation,” Marie said of her first few days in New York.
“I’ve seen a man who’s lungs in his chest X-ray were so congested, you couldn’t even distinguish where the lungs and heart were,” Marie adds.
“Despite having very critical patients, all the nurses and doctors are doing their very best to help these patients get better. Conditions are safe, PPE is plentiful as long as we utilize then appropriately and sparingly. I know we would all appreciate keeping us all in your thoughts, and keep staying home as much as possible, even if businesses are opening up again,” Marie said.
Thank you to all three of these brave hometown ladies who have made so many sacrifices to help fellow US citizens across the country during this horrible pandemic that has taken the life of so many and led to such dire need for help in places like New York.
See Shauna Davis’ story here.
