KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The first wave of doctors and nurses from the COVID Care Force has returned to the Kansas City area after spending several days in the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak.
"We landed in New York City, not knowing what to expect," Dr. Gary Morsch, founder of Heart to Heart International and Docs Who Care, said.
Over the past two weeks, Morsch led a team that treated hundreds of critically ill patients at two hospitals in Queens, New York.
Patty Ridings, a nurse practitioner and volunteer, said that health care workers said prayers as they put on their personal protective equipment, or PPE.
"It [was] like, you know, as we put on our gown, protect us, Lord. As we wash our hands, flush our fears away. I mean, it was literally like, ‘OK, they are going into battle and here's their armor and their prayer,’" Ridings said.
Ridings said that the nurses and doctors are “giving their life” to care for patients.
"They haven't had a day off in 30 days,” she said, “and their health is at risk. But they're at the bedside. They have a mission to care and they're not going to leave you.”
She also said she will never forget the sight when she looked out a window during one of her shifts.
"I froze for a minute and you can see into the truck and there were carts of bodies,” Ridings said, “and these are bodies that loved ones didn't get to be at the bedside.”
Both Ridings and Morsch said there was a tremendous amount of gratitude for the COVID Care Force, a coalition of volunteers from Heart to Heart International, Docs Who Care and the International Medical Corps.
Their message now that they are back home – “Keep the caution up.”
"I mean, it's life or death," Ridings said.
Morsch agreed.
"I just hope everybody gets the message and takes this thing serious until, until again, we can either test or we have vaccines," Morsch said.
A second team of volunteers from the COVID Care Force still is in New York City.
Interested health care professionals can sign up online to volunteer with the COVID Care Force.
