THE WORK WE DO: THE RESPIRATORY THERAPISTS AT NY-PRESBYTERIAN’S MORGAN STANLEY CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

As the COVID-19 crisis engulfed New York City, the relentless whine of sirens drowned out the lockdowninduced silence on the city’s streets. New Yorkers faced staggering death tolls and renewed pressure on longexisting disparities. In every setting, healthcare workers continued to show up and care for the sick and suffering. As the coronavirus cruelly robbed tens of thousands of their breath, respiratory therapists (RTs) played a central role in helping patients recover, easing suffering, and saving lives. 1199SEIU represents some 140 respiratory therapists at NY-Presbyterian Medical Center and its associated Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital (CHONY). CHONY RTs usually care for the city’s youngest patients, but as the pandemic bore down on NYC, they found themselves on the front line of one of New York’s biggest hospitals. And working near-miracles to restore life-giving breath to thousands of COVID-19 victims.

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1. 1199 represents 140 Respiratory Therapists (RT) at NYPresbyterian Hospital. In the COVID crisis, some 40 RTs from the institution’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital were called to work at Presby’s main hospital.

4. Superheroes Arianne Bernardo (left) and Mhyne Ragot (right) show off their RT swag under their scrubs.

2. RTs Reina Molina and Giovanni Apollon. Molina has worked at Presby’s Children’s Hospital for five years. “I found that coming into work made it easier to deal with what was happening. So many of us suffered personal losses, it was helpful having that camaraderie, and knowing that under the worst circumstances, we have each other.” Molina and a coworker helped make colorful masks for the whole department.

5. You could say Daniel Denmark has respiratory therapy in his blood. He followed his father’s footsteps into the profession after originally planning to become a doctor. Denmark says teamwork was critical to managing stress and getting through the worst part of the COVID-19 crisis in NYC. “Having that bond is very important. I appreciate everyone in my department because we are all hands on. When things are moving quickly, that’s what you want. I really appreciate my co-workers having my back because you can’t do any of this all by yourself.”

3. Steven Seraphan has been an RT at CHONY for 11 years. “Once I started hearing about the cases in the early stages of the crisis, I knew it was going to be bad,” he says. “March was really bad. One day they put me in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, and it kind of felt like an assembly line, I had so many patients.”

6. Respiratory Therapist Monique Guerrant models some PPE. “When everything started, it was so chaotic and overwhelming. I had 20 patients, and every one was COVID positive,” says Guerrant, who stayed in hospital housing to protect her family from infection. “I washed my hands so much they were breaking out. They’re finally getting better now. For a while I thought I was handling things OK, and then recently I was talking with a patient about what happened and I just started crying.”

1199 Magazine | May / June 2020