How COVID-19 Has Changed Life For Frontline Workers
It’s the first week of hands-on medical training for the United States Air Force and before you can get a hang on things the world shuts down due to COVID-19. Instead of going into lockdown like everyone else, you’re thrusted into the world of emergency healthcare with no experience.
For many people across the world, COVID-19 upended their lives. Of all the categories that people find themselves in, frontline workers have been through it all. This pandemic has changed not only what they do on the clock, but what they do off of it as well. Whether they are law enforcement officers or healthcare workers, there have been a lot of changes to adjust to.
Photo by Cesar Micklick
Cesar Micklick, a frontline healthcare worker for the Air National Guard, stationed in Florida, is one of those who have been greatly affected.Originally joining to put himself through school, Micklick found himself in a situation more difficult than he’s ever been in with the Air Force. According to him, “Working for the guard had felt routine until we did the testing. Once COVID-19 became a thing in the United States, things changed fast.” With testing being scarce initially, nobody had a true idea of how much the virus had spread. Micklick being in Florida dealt with a huge influx of patients once testing became more available.
Micklick’s job at USAF Hospital Langley, in TK Florida, was to test people for COVID-19. To do this, many precautions were taken to ensure the safety of both those testing and those being tested. Every morning, Micklick prepared to wear his hazmat suit that slowly but surely became the most uncomfortable thing he’d ever worn. Regarding the hazmat suits, Micklick said “even though they were just nylon, they were unbelievably hot after a while. It’s annoying to hear people complain about masks considering we were out treating them wearing full body protection that felt like a sauna.”
Like Florida, New York has had a very difficult time trying to stop the spread of the virus. Working in the City’s hospitals can make that incredibly clear. With patients for not only COVID-19 but other illnesses and injuries as well, it's far from uncommon for these frontline workers to be overwhelmed.
Mike Bravato is currently a security guard at New York Presbyterian in Manhattan. He mainly stays in the psych ward which inevitably puts him in direct contact with patients. This job is a change in career path for him. If you had asked him a year ago what he hoped to be doing right now, he’d tell you he plans to become a police officer. In pursuit of this goal, he received a law enforcement internship over the summer with the Westchester Police Department. This internship opened his eyes to the harsh reality of law enforcement during the pandemic.
While working for the Westchester PD, Bravato encountered very odd situations from citizens around the county. “When I heard that they were still allowing us to intern, I was excited. Little did I know we would harassed night and day” Bravato mentioned. For context, this was occurring simultaneously with the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the protests and riots after the death of George Floyd in police custody. Addressing the situation at the time, Bravato said “there was definitely tension everywhere we went. People would criticize us for everything and just pull out their phone to record themselves doing it. This one time, a woman came up to me and another officer screaming about us not wearing masks while she wasn’t wearing one herself. People would do it for fun and post it all over. Meanwhile, we’re just trying to do our job and keep them safe.”
Enforcing laws became incredibly hard due to the restrictions related to COVID-19. With people wearing masks, it’s harder for officers to make out suspicious activity. One afternoon, he caught somebody with a machete-like blade. According to Bravato, “The only reason me and the other officers caught him was because he was walking funny.” Westchester may not seem dangerous, but Bravato mentioned that there is violent gang activity around. After all the pressure from recent protests and all the bad experiences, Bravado finally decided it was time for a new job.
“Starting this new job was definitely the right decision, but it's still unpleasant” Bravado claims. Bravato’s day starts with him waking up at 4:00 am and leaving for the train station shortly after. From there, he rides an hour to his stop in Manhattan and walks into the hospital for work. “Nobody likes walking in and getting spit on within five minutes but that's every day in the psych ward” Bravato mentioned. Part of his job includes restraining patients who are acting out of control. This includes homeless people as well as those who are just mentally ill. With COVID-19 running rampant through the homeless community, it’s dangerous when they spit at hospital staff.
Bravato made it clear that “This job is definitely different, it has its pros and cons but I’m happier here for sure.”
The pandemic has definitely made life difficult for almost everybody in the country. Chris Mannion, a coworker in Micklick’s unit, explained how the pandemic affected him. According to Mannion, “During the height of the virus, it felt like it was my entire life. I would wake up, go to work for at least 12 hours, and sometimes I wouldn’t even go home. It wouldn’t have been worth it because I had to go right back.”
Mannion initially joined the Air Reserves as a career choice. “I didn’t want to go to college right away and my family have all served so I felt I should too” said Mannion. Little did he know, he would be thrown into one of the largest medical catastrophes in recent history. When speaking about the virus, “It's pretty bad; it doesn’t matter who you are. I got it, I’m young, and it felt like nothing I’ve had before. I couldn’t leave my room because of my roommates and I was tired for six straight days.”
Getting the virus gave Mannion some perspective on what they were fighting. “I already got it so I most likely won't get it again, but I’m definitely more cautious now. I guess I was pretty ignorant in how I was carrying myself before but that's behind me now” Mannion explained. Being in Florida, social restrictions are fairly light in comparison to the rest of the country. This is what Mannion thinks as the reason behind his contraction. “I was pretty irresponsible. I went out to bars on my nights off and I was allowed to, but I should’ve been smarter” he continued.
Recently, Mannion figured out that he doesn’t want to be in the Air Force Reserves forever. He explained, “After the pandemic and my deployment is over, I’m done with the medical field. I thought I would like it but it's not at all what I thought it would be, especially now. I don’t know what I want to do but I know it isn’t this.”