Interviews with Dr. Goldberg on the status of Montreal hospitals, and what happens next:

• Director of MUHC critical care says the situation is beyond surreal. Michel Lalonde of the Montreal Gazette, January 13, 2021. Photo credit: John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette.
• Cri du coeur des intensivistes “Ça ne tient qu’à un fil”. La Presse. January 15, 2021.
• Cardiac surgeries latest to be cancelled at Montreal hospital as ICUs fill up. iHeartRADIO. January 14, 2021.
• Doctors conducting ‘dry runs’ to decide who gets access to critical care if hospitals exceed capacity. Benjamin Shingler, Leah Hendry. CBC News. January 15, 2021.

Who will be most affected by COVID-19?

A related post from November 2020:

We are months into the second wave of COVID-19 yet healthcare workers remain unable to predict who will get sick from the virus and who will not. Neither the severity of a patient’s symptoms, nor their age, forecast the ultimate outcome. Nor does the existence of a pre-existing medical condition dictate how things will end. The truth is, healthcare teams do not know who will be most affected by COVID-19. In a recent interview, Dr. Peter Goldberg, associate member of the Meakins-Christie Laboratories and researcher in the RESP Program of the RI-MUHC, expresses his frustration at his inability to save someone who is too young, too alive, to die:

“it was like a forest fire, and all I had was a garden hose.”

Dr. Goldberg

Even patients seemingly on the mend can take a sudden turn for the worse and experience a rapid decline. Suddenly their life is in jeopardy. Physicians must be ready to respond quickly when this happens, but when not successful they are left to watch their patients pass on without the support of their family or friends.

“If there is anything more distressing than seeing someone die, it is seeing them die alone, or a nurse holding up a phone on Zoom or Skype so that family members can watch this,”

Dr. Goldberg

Canada’s case fatality rate is high amongst peer countries, but it is suggested that the trend could be due to testing: in Canada, testing has focused on individuals with symptoms and at-risk individuals, rather than the entire population. Regardless of testing, as the number of people with severe symptoms require hospitalization increases, hospitals become overloaded and physicians are faced with difficult decisions. Reflecting back on the spring and how the hospitals quickly filled up, Dr. Goldberg recalls having “very disturbing” conversations with hospital ethicists, and he sincerely hopes not to find himself in a similar position this time around:

“I don’t think the community knows that these conversations are going on. We’re talking about them — we’re not talking about something esoteric about ourselves. We’re talking about how ICUs, if we reach the limitation of our capacity to treat COVID patients, then we’re going to have to make decisions about who gets the bed.”

Dr. Peter Goldberg

Dr. Goldberg speaks of fighting this virus from a physician’s perspective, and the difficulty to predict who will be most affected by COVID-19, in his interview with Sharon Kirkley of the National Post.

The interview with Dr. Goldberg can be read here:

• Beyond the numbers: Who is dying of COVID in Canada, and how? Sharon Kirkey of the National Post. November 28, 2020.

The post COVID-19 Situation in the ICU is Critical appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

(Time on Podcast: 1:00) During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Peter Goldberg describes the situation in the ICU. There are two ICUs at the MUHC. One at the Montreal General Hospital, and the other at the Royal Victoria Hospital. Patients admitted to the ICU are generally over 60, but there are patients that are younger, including those in their 40s, who get admitted to the ICU with severe COVID-19. Dr. Goldberg describes the tremendous work from our front-line workers, especially the nurses and respiratory therapists that worked tirelessly during the pandemic in the ICU. Dr. Goldberg also describes how we have changed the medical management of COVID-19 patients as we learn more about the virus and how it affects our bodies. He describes the cytokine storm that happens in some patients, and how some patients actually respond differently to the virus. Some of the greatest challenges in the ICU during the second wave will be planning the number of beds for a potential sharp increase in hospitalizations. One of the best ways to help the ICU team is to reduce transmission in the community. Wear your masks, maintain social distancing and minimize your contacts. These simple practices must be followed to help our front-line teams.

Listen to the Podcast

Raising awareness for a disease that affects 1 in 3 Canadians. The MUHC Foundation’s Health Matters. November 22, 2020.

Web: http://bit.ly/3aQfvVQ
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/32HFxrc
Apple: https://apple.co/35NvItS

The post Health Matters: ICUs During the COVID-19 Pandemic appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Read more about the award: Code Life Ventilator Challenge – Made For All, McGill University.

About the Joule COVID-19 Innovation grant program: https://joulecma.ca/innovate/covid-grants.

Dr. Peter Goldberg is a member of the Meakins-Christie Laboratories, Associate Member of the RI-MUHC RESP program, leader of the SubK Sprint, and is the Director of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the McGill University Health Centre.

The post COVID-19 Code Life Ventilator Challenge appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Dr. Goldberg explains how patients like Mr. Mayrand, who survive days or even months in the ICU, experience severe and enduring side effects from the powerful medications they required. Recovery includes a long period of rehabilitation as patients re-learn how to eat, speak, move and to perform other basic tasks. As well, permanent damage is done to major organs, not to mention the psychological effects of enduring such a traumatic experience.

Learn more about Dr. Goldberg’s work in the ICU during the COVID pandemic, and the experiences of other COVID patients:

• La longue marche vers la guérison. La Presse. By Caroline Touzin and Mathieu Perreault. August 3, 2020.
• A first-hand account of an ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic. CJAD radio interview with Dr. Peter Goldberg, Director of MUHC Intensive Care. The Elias Makos Show. August 6, 2020.

The post COVID-19: A Long Road to Recovery appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.