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'During this pandemic, the number of people with behavioral health issues has increased way
more than I have seen in the last 15 years. The number of suicide
attempts and violence in general has increased. I saw people getting severely ill, both
physically and mentally.'
- Dr. Natalia Ortiz-Torrent
" From a personal standpoint,
it is extremely
difficult to continue to be
witness to the suffering, "
says Dr. Jessica Beard.
Dr. Jessica Beard
Stresses ER
As these situations can stress out the individual physicians and
nurses, Tanigawa said it also stresses out the entire emergency room.
" When a patient who has been shot comes in, it activates a lot of
people, including the trauma team, the surgeons, the chaplain and
social workers, " Tanigawa said. " It really puts a halt to the ER and the
care for a lot of sick patients can get delayed. It does drain the staff. "
Dr. Jessica H. Beard, assistant professor of surgery and director of
trauma research, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University,
said the gun violence also affects other parts of the hospital.
" Eighty percent of gunshot victims survive and have a very long
recovery in the intensive care unit and on the general floor, and can
spend days, weeks or even months in recovery, " Beard said. " From a
personal standpoint, it is extremely difficult to continue to be witness
to the suffering. Listening to the narrative of health care burnout as
it relates to COVID-19 is one thing, but now we have the vaccine,
so it's hard to face again. That's how we feel about gun violence,
because there are things that prevent gun violence. "
With so much violence in the city, Tanigawa said treating a gunshot
victim can become routine, which he said is both good and bad.
" You want it to be routine, so that the team can take care of gunshot
victims in a fast manner, " he said. " But the routine aspect should also
raise red flags, because it highlights how much gun violence there is. "
'We should have a way in which we reconnect as colleagues so that we don't feel alone. We have
to be professionals working together to take care of patients and each other.'
- Dr. Natalia Ortiz-Torrent
8 Philadelphia Medicine : Fall 2021

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Philadelphia Medicine Fall 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Philadelphia Medicine Fall 2021