A MOMENT TO BE CARRIED

A Moment to be

Story by Jade Brown

Photography provided by Page Poppell Blanton

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Dictionary.com defines "mission" as an important goal or purpose that is accompanied by strong conviction; a calling or vocation. Mission is the word Page Blanton used to describe six weeks in her ICU Crisis Response assignment at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. Page has been an RN for nine years working in the Level 1 trauma center at Memorial Hospital in Savannah, GA. She also has experience in the Cardiac ICU.

When Covid-19 hit the United States, certain areas of the country, specifically New York, New Jersey, and California, were hit especially hard. As a certified nurse, Page received emails from nursing travel agencies who were desperately trying to recruit extra help in these hardhit areas. For weeks, she deleted these emails, thinking that there was nothing she could do to help. However, after reading the third daily Covid-19 update and feeling heavy-hearted about the situation that the nurses who were working in these hard-hit areas were facing, she decided that there was something she could do. She could "bring rest, joy, peace and a moment just to absorb their new reality of life," she said, "a moment to be carried."

With her husband and her family's support, she set to work researching the options and the need. In the process, Page was connected with a travel agency and accepted her commission on April 16, 2020, to begin her journey on April 21, 2020. In a matter of five days, Page was able to find a furnished apartment in Newark, get certified as a licensed RN in

New Jersey and New York, make eight weeks of plans for her three children, Rowan (13), Ramsey (8), and Ford (1), pack, and hit the road. Her husband, Hamp, made the 825 mile trip with her all in one day so that she would have her car with her, said a tearful “see ya later,” and left her in God’s hands to begin her mission.

This was all new for Page: leaving her family and children for such a long period of time, driving and living in a city she was unfamiliar with, working in the trenches in a situation that everyone in the world was unsure of how to handle. As training, Page received a two-hour computer orientation and a 15-minute explanation of the hospital's layout and was immediately put to work.

During her first 12-hour shift, Page saw the unimaginable. In this one hospital, there were 42 Covid-19 positive patients on ventilators. Within three hours on the job, three patients coded and died. These patients included postpartum mothers, hospital staffers, and people from all walks of life aged anywhere from 25 to their late 80s. The hospital team was operating on overdrive to the point of exhaustion trying to keep up. Page says, "Everywhere around me, I could see the emotional and physical impact this virus was taking on its own people. It was easy to see the broken hearts, exhaustion, sadness, and a loss of hope from these heroes who had been enduring this never-ending death cycle for four weeks before help arrived. In my first 12 hours, I saw far beyond what I could have imagined or dreamt of. It was worse than any news article, video, or google search had provided me with thus far.”

When asked about the PPE that she was provided and required to wear, Page says that she was given a face shield

“I saw far beyond what I could have imagined or dreamt of. It was worse than any news article, video, or google search had provided me with thus far.”

that was to last her indefinitely, one N95 mask and two surgical masks that were to be worn one over the other; these were to be used as long as safely possible, sometimes more than three shifts, and four PPE gowns to be reused if they were not contaminated. All of this was to be worn at all times and throughout the entire 12-hour shift. The only time staff was allowed to take off their gear was bathroom breaks, lunch breaks, and water breaks. Page said the most challenging part was "figuring out when and for how long I needed to schedule myself even to get a sip of water, use the restroom and eat something high in protein and high in energy to last me the remainder of my shift. Some shifts, I may only get two opportunities to hydrate myself, and other shifts I may find four times to allow for that.”

Through all of the difficulties, Page was able to find joy in this experience. She says that given the chance, she would do it all again. Since her return to Jesup, she has continued to work in the medical ICU unit at Memorial Hospital in Savannah, GA which is also the COVID-19 unit. She says that it continues to be a difficult situation to work in and around. “This experience has changed me in ways I can’t explain. I’ve learned that I'm way more resilient and strong than what I give myself credit for. There's always death around you and you have to find some sort of positive not to let it consume you," Page says. Though she gives high praise and all the credit to the men and women she worked with and around during this experience, Page is undoubtedly a hero herself. She answered her mission and continues to fight through the uncertainty of this pandemic. Jesup should be very proud and honored to house this amazing hero and call her our own. |WM