OVER
OVER IN
OVER IN EASTERN IDAHO...THE HOME OF B- Y-U-IDAHO.
MAYBE 40-THOUSAND
PEOPLE SCATTERED
ACROSS 473 SQUARE
MILES...MADISON COUNTY
HAS MADE NATIONAL
NEWS OF LATE FOR IT'S
COVID CASES.
IT'S A HOTSPOT.
NOT JUST FOR
IDAHO...BUT FOR THE
COUNTRY.
MADISON COUNTY...NOT
EVEN IN THE TOP 10 FOR
POPULATION IN THE GEM
STATE...IS IN THE TOP 5
WHEN IT COMES TO
CONFIRMED
CORONAVIRUS
CONFIRMED CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS.
CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS. OVER THE LAST SEVEN
DAYS...THEY HAVE HAD AN
AVERAGE INCIDENCE RATE
OF NEARLY 181.
MEANING FOR EVERY
100-THOUSAND
PEOPLE...THEY'VE HAD
ALMOST 181 CASES.
A MONTH AGO...THEY
WERE AT 20.
THIS WEEK...SO
THIS WEEK...SO
FAR...THEY'VE HAD 258 CASES. THAT'S MORE THAN ADA
COUNTY.
TODAY WE SPOKE WITH
DOCTOR KENNETH
KRELL...AN INTENSIVE
CARE SPECIALIST AT
EASTERN IDAHO
REGIONAL MEDICAL
CENTER IN IDAHO FALLS.
THEY ARE THE REFERRAL
HOSPITAL FOR THAT PART
OF THE STATE AND
SURROUNDING AREAS.
AND LATELY A LOT MORE
HAVE BEEN COMING IN
FROM MADISON COUNTY.
DOCTOR KRELL HAS BEEN
AT EIR-MC FOR NEARLY 40
YEARS...AND HE'S SEEN
HEALTH CRISES BEFORE.
HE WAS THERE FOR H1-
N1 IN 2009...EVEN
CONTRACTED IT...AND
DEVELOPED A
RHEUMATOID DISEASE
BECAUSE OF IT.
THIS SPRING HE STOPPED
TAKING HIS IMMUNO-
SUPPRESSANT MEDICINE
JUST SO HE COULD CARE
FOR COVID PATIENTS.
THAT WAS ALSO ABOUT
THE TIME HE STARTED
WRITING OP-ED PIECES
FOR THE LOCAL PAPER.
HE'S WRITTEN SEVERAL
OF THEM...BECAUSE, AS HE
TOLD ME TODAY...HE FEELS
LIKE WHEN HE SEES
SOMETHING, HE SHOULD
SAY SOMETHING.
TO TRY TO REINFORCE
THE REALITIES OF WHAT
THIS PANDEMIC LOOKS
LIKE FROM THE HEALTH
CARE SIDE OF IT.
SO WHAT HAS HE SEEN
LATELY THAT LEAD TO
PUBLISHING HIS OPINION
PIECE YESTERDAY?
COVID-19 IS MUCH MORE
DANGEROUS THAN THE
COMMUNITY
RECOGNIZES...AND THE
YOUNGER GENERATION
HAS BECOME A BIGGER
CONCERN.
T"HE MOST ALARMING
INCREASE IN CASES HAS
BEEN
BEEN IN
BEEN IN THE 18 TO 39- YEAR-OLD GROUP, WHO ALSO SEEMS,
ANECDOTALLY, TO BE THE
GROUP MOST OFTEN
FLAUNTING
RECOMMENDATIONS,
FLAUNTING RECOMMENDATIONS, INCLUDING MASKING,
DISTANCING AND
MEETING IN LARGE
GROUPS.".
"IN THAT GROUP OF 18-39
YEAR OLDS WHO SEE
THEMSELVES AS
INVINCIBLE AND RIGHT
NOW COMPRISE OF OUT
HIGHEST GROUP OF
INDIVIDUALS GETTING
INFECTED WITH COVID, AT
LEAST ONE IN 5 TO ONE IN
THREE STILL HAVE SEVERE
SYMPTOMS AFTER
SEVERAL WEEKS."
"WHAT IS IT LOOK LIKE
RIGHT NOW AT YOUR
ICU?"
"WE HAVE RIGHT NOW
ABOUT HALF A DOZEN
VENTILATED PATIENTS
AND IT VARIES A LITTLE
BUT THAT'S ABOUT WHAT
WE'VE
WE'VE BEEN AROUND. SOMETIMES A LITTLE LESS AND THAT THEN
REPRESENTS KIND OF THE
TIP OF THE ICEBERG FOR
OUR REGION AND CASES
WHO HAVE BECOME
CRITICALLY ILL. WE ALSO
HAVE ABOUT 30 CASES ON
THE WARD OF PATIENTS
WHO
WHO ARE
WHO ARE JUST REQUIRING OXYGEN BUT NOT REQUIRING INTUBATION
AND VENTILATION."
AND VENTILATION."
"IN
"IN ADDITION I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND WE ARE
NEARLY AT CAPACITY, NOT
PRINCIPALLY BECAUSE OF
COVID
COVID BUT
COVID BUT BECAUSE OF THE OTHER DISEASAES THAT WE'RE SEEING: THE
TRAUMAS, THE BURNS,
THE CRITICALLY ILL
MEDICAL PATIENTS. WE
HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT
IDAHO HAS A VERY LOW
RATE OF ICU BEDS PER
POPULATION, ONE OF THE
LOWEST IN THE COUNTRY.
SO IT IS EASY FOR US TO
GET OVERWHELMED IN
TERMS OF RESOURCES,
NOT JUST THOSE
PHYSICAL BEDS BUT IN
TERMS OF STAFF."
"YOU'VE
"YOU'VE BEEN WORKING THERE SINCE 1982...YES I HAVE...HAVE YOU EVER
SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS
IN YOUR TIME?"
"NO, AND I HOPE I NEVER
DO AGAIN. NO WE HAVE
NOT ENCOUNTERED
ANYTHING LIKE THIS. THE
CLOSEST WE CAME WAS
H1N1 IN 2009, BUT THAT
WAS A VERY DIFFERENT
EPIDEMIC OF INFLUENZA. I
HAD A WHOLE WARD OF
PREGNANT WOMEN ON
VENTILATORS AND WE
HAD A LOT OF PEDIACTRIC
CASES.
CASES. THOSE GROUPS SEEM TO BE RELATIVELY SPARED FROM GETTING
SEVERE DISEASE NOW
WITH COVID. IT'S A
DIFFERENT DISEASE
HITTING A DIFFERENT
PORTION OF THE
POPULATION."
"COMPARING THIS TO
H1N1, YOU'VE ALREADY
DONE THAT A COUPLE OF
TIMES, BUT WHEN IT
COMPARES TO HOW
YOU'RE SEEING IT AFFECT
YOUR PATIENTS
WHAT'S COVID BEEN LIKE
FOR YOU?"
"IT'S BEEN AWFU.L ONE
OF THE THINGS IS GIVEN
IN INFECTIVITY OF
PATIENTS DYING ALONE,
OF NOT BEING ABLE TO BE
SURROUNDED BY THEIR
FAMILY MEMBERS AND
OUR ICU IS VERY
IMPORTANT, AN INTRICAL
PART OF THE TEAM AND
WE'RE
WE'RE DEVOID OF THAT. WE'RE UNABLE TO HAVE FAMILY MEMBERS THERE,
SO WE SEE PATIENTS
STRUGGLE FO MUCH
LONGER THAN ANY
DISEASE PROCESS I'VE
EVER SEEN."
"BUT WATCHING THE
SEVERITY OF ILLNESS IN
THESE
THESE PATIENTS, HOW DIFFICULT THEY ARE TO HANDLE, THE VERY HIGH
MORTALITY. WHILE WE'VE
IMPROVED MORTALITY
FROM PROBABLY 80
PERCENT OF PATIENTS ON
VENTILATORS, WE'RE NO
BETTER THAN 50 PERCENT,
SO
SO I
SO I KNOW
SO I KNOW EVERY TIME I INTUBATE A PATIENT WITH COVID, .I 'VE GOT A ONE IN
TWO MORTALITY RISK FOR
THEM."
"MADISON COUNTY'S
DEATH RATE WILL
UNDOUBTEDLY INCREASE,
HOWEVER, AS THAT
LOW-RISK GROUP
SECONDARILY SPREADS
CASES TO THE MORE
VULNERABLE POPULATION
OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL
WEEKS. I FIND IT
PERPLEXING THAT THE AGE
GROUP WHO LEADS THE
WAY IN OTHER AREAS OF
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY,
SUCH AS CLIMATE
CHANGE AND EQUALITY
FOR ALL INDIVIDUALS
REGARDLESS OF RACE,
CAN BE SO CAVALIER
ABOUT THEIR MOST
IMMEDIATE CHALLENGE
THAT OF PROTECTING THE
ENTIRE COMMUNITY,
INCLUDING THE MOST
VULNERABLE AMONG US."
"THAT'S A PRETTY
POIGNANT PARAGRAPH."
"THAT'S THE POINT I
WANT TO GET ACROSS TO
THEM THEIR RESPONSIBLE
IN OTHER AREAS, THEY'RE
CONCERNED SOCIALLY IN
OTHER AREAS, THEY'VE
GOT TO SEE THIS AS THEIR
MOST IMMEDIATE SOCIAL
CONCERN
CONCERN AT THIS POINT." "I GUESS GOING FORWARD WHAT DO YOU
HOPE FOR?"
"I HOPE FOR US TO BUY
TIME BY BEING SOCIALLY
RESPONSIBLE FOR US TO
GET OUT OF THIS MESS.
AND WE WILL GET OUT OF
THIS MESS."
"HAVE YOU GOTTEN ANY
BACKLASH FROM YOUR
EDITORIALS...OR WHAT
HAS BEEN THE
REACTION?"
"I GET LOTS OF BACK
LASH YES...HAHAHA., BUT I
DON'T TAKE IT
PERSONALLY. I THINK WE
ALL COME AT THIS FROM
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
AND I JUST WANT PEOPLE
TO SEE HEALTHCARE
WORKERS' PERSPECTIVE
AND TO NOT SEE THIS AS
SOME KIND OF POLITICAL
ISSUE. THIS IS A PUBLIC
HEALTH ISSUE. THIS HAS
NOTHING TO DO WITH
OUR INDIVIDUAL
FREEDOM IT HAS TO DO
WITH OUR COLLECTIVE
SURVIVAL."
SURVIVAL."
DOCTOR
DOCTOR KRELL IS 70 YEARS OLD...AND SHARES HIS I-C-U DUTIES WITH
JUST ONE OTHER DOCTOR
PER SHIFT.
HE SAYS HE'S LET GO OF
THE ADMINISTRATIVE
ROLES HE USED TO HAVE
OVER THE YEARS...AND
DOESN'T WORK AS OFTEN
AS HE USED TO.
BUT AT AN AGE WHEN
MOST PEOPLE ARE
THINKING ABOUT THE
NEXT CHAPTER OF THEIR
LIVES...HE IS STILL DOING
IT BECAUSE HE LOVES IT.
HE LOVES TAKING CARE
OF PATIENTS...HE JUST
WISHES THERE WEREN'T