CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Samaritan’s Purse recently launched an Emergency Field hospital in New York City’s Central Park and were in need of medical volunteers. That’s when Charlotte ICU nurse Brittany Akinsola answered the call to travel there and help out.
“If this were our family, people that we know and love, that we care about we would want someone to come serve us," Akinsola said.
For the next three weeks, she will be working in the ICU there helping those hit hardest by the effects of the coronavirus with the hope that all her patients might recover. But Akinsola admits the emotional toll can be tough.
“We hear all the reports," she said. "It’s just very saddening to see it happen in person.”
Fortunately, she says there are some small victories to witness and celebrate too, like an elderly patient who managed to get out of bed for the first time in weeks after being infected with COVID-19.
“He literally started praising the lord in Spanish and just celebrating,” Akinsola said. “It’s moments like that that keep us going.”
The NYC Emergency Field Hospital has 68 beds and is provided through a partnership with Samaritan’s Purse and New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital.
The medical team out in the field is made up of close to 100 doctors, nurses, paramedics and more who Akinsola says could all use a little extra appreciation during this time.
“Check on them, love on them and support them any way they can because we have a long road ahead of us.”
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