We will never forget our first patrols while deployed. Donning protective gear like body armor and a Kevlar helmet carried new weight as we realized the gear was our only protection against bullets and explosions. As we left our patrol bases, every step was deliberate and the slightest unexpected movement would heighten our awareness and draw our full attention.
Health care workers in the Covid-19 era can relate to this feeling. The simple protection once offered by wearing gloves while examining a patient has given way to putting on layers of personal protective equipment, and improvising when it is in short supply. This gear now stands between them and a serious infection — and possibly bringing that infection home to their families.
We straddle the worlds of combat and medicine. Each of us has served in the U.S Armed Forces and are now students at Harvard Medical School. As part of the school’s Civilian-Military Collaborative, we were asked by a residency director how we might advise the program’s residents who worried about their safety as they faced the Covid-19 crisis.
A few themes emerged from these discussions about the similarities between the battlefields of war and of Covid-19: a sense of duty toward a greater purpose, a responsibility to others, and a sense of camaraderie.
Opinion: Lessons from the military on how to balance caring for patients against the risk of personal harm – https://t.co/iS7857co6M pic.twitter.com/zISKOCgorE
— Mazen M (@MazenSalama) May 20, 2020