Fort Carson nurse battles COVID-19 along Mexican border
Colorado remains one of the bright spots in the battle against COVID-19, but many other states are still struggling through massive infection rates and deaths.
The Texas-Mexico border remains one of the biggest hotspots, prompting FEMA to recently send in the Urban Augmentation Medical Task Force-7452 from San Diego as part of the military's support of FEMA's response to the pandemic.
Among the 85 Army reservists who arrived in South Texas on July 27 was an ICU nurse from Colorado Springs.
1st Lieutenant Michelle Kaplan normally works at Evans Army Community Hospital on Fort Carson as a civilian.
The entire Rio Grande Valley region became a hotspot in early July, and hospital beds are still in short supply.
Monday alone, Hidalgo County reported 675 new cases and 10 deaths.
"These patients are really sick, and they need great ICU care," said Kaplan, whose interview was shared with KRDO through the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS).
When she arrived at the DHR clinic in the city of Edinburg, Kaplan found the ICU completely filled with patients in a variety of conditions.
"We're assigned a patient, and that patient can be awake and talking or they can be intubated or sedated and very, very sick. So we kind of have to keep an open mind, plan for anything, and go from there."
Along with learning the virus, Kaplan has also had to learn her patients' culture.
Stay at home orders are still in effect for that area, and the streets are largely empty, yet the positive cases keep coming in.
Kaplan suspects that is partially because in this poverty-stricken stretch of the border, large families that include a wide variety of age groups are often crowded into single homes due to limited income.
"Families live in multi-generational households," she explains, "so that puts them at greater risk for being exposed to COVID, especially if one of their family members has been exposed already."
Kaplan described her first mobilization experience as both overwhelming and humbling, a chance to put into practice her training, as well as her patience.
"I have skills and I have the knowledge and I'm super proud and humbled that I was able to be here and share my experience with all the staff that needs it most. And the really unique part is that we get to do it here on American soil. I'm very proud and very honored to be here, and to fight the fight for as long as we need to."
The number of positive cases in the region is still high; however, it has also leveled off.
According to Kaplan, that has allowed her team to provide more detailed care to each patient and increase their chance of survival, but it could still be weeks or longer before she and the rest of her unit are allowed to return home.
