REFLECTION
Working Alongside the Ohio National Guard in a Community ED During the COVID-19 Pandemic
SAEM PULSE | JULY-AUGUST 2022
By Ariel Klusty, DO, and Alison Southern, MD, MSEd
22
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals have been focused on ensuring they have adequate supplies and resources to meet increased patient care demands, while also combating staffing shortages. In December 2021, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that Ohio COVID-19 hospital admissions had hit an all-time high with more than 4,700 hospitalizations — an average of one in five people. With inadequate resources and staffing, many hospitals were spread thin and were nearing a crisis in patient care. In hopes of relieving the burden of the pandemic surge on hospitals, on December 17, 2021, Governor DeWine deployed members of the Ohio National Guard to hospitals located in the Cleveland, Akron, and Canton areas. The deployments included medical, transport, and domestic/environmental duties.
As a first-year emergency medicine resident in Canton, Ohio, I had the privilege of personally working alongside these guard members and wanted to share their experiences. After contacting the Ohio National Guard Public Affairs Department, I was granted the opportunity to interview some of the guard members deployed in our hospital.
Sergeant Christopher Ogle
For Sergeant Ogle, a combat medic, who has served almost six years in the military. For Sergeant Ogle, a combat medic, who has served almost Christopher Ogle six years in the military, this was not his first pandemic deployment. His prior deployments
consisted of assisting COVID-19 testing centers and federal prisons. In our hospital, he helped relieve our staffing shortage by carrying out duties similar to an emergency department technician. He worked in triage performing EKGs, recording vital signs, and collecting blood work. He also assisted in patient transport. When asked to describe his experience, Sergeant Ogle had only positive recollections. He felt welcomed by both patients and staff. He was also able to refine his skills acquired in his military training by applying them in our emergency department. Sergeant Ogle further stated that he was able to gain new skills from the emergency nurses such as how to float an IV. When asked what he felt was the Ohio National Guard’s most significant impact in our hospital, he responded, “taking the burden off the nurses.” With Sergeant Ogle helping the emergency department
