TAKE THIS JOB AND LOVE IT
‘I’M HERE. LET’S GO.’
Bernard Robinson ’88 returned from COVID-19 to lead EMS operations for the health system that has treated the most coronavirus patients.
I
n late March, when the virus that causes COVID-19 was already spreading rapidly across New York City and the surrounding region, first responders in the health care community jumped quickly into the mix, underscoring their “front-line workers” moniker. On Long Island, Bernard Robinson ’88, who oversees daily operations for one of the largest EMS services on the East Coast, felt duty-bound to step away from the relative security of his office and return to the field alongside his EMT and paramedic colleagues. “I would not ask my guys to go into something that I wouldn’t be willing to go into myself,” says Robinson, a regional director for Northwell Health’s Center for Emergency Medical Services. During those early days of the outbreak, Robinson recalls, protocols and procedures were “changing literally by the hour, as far as what PPE was appropriate to wear and what wasn’t.” That ambiguity in guidance translated into a great deal of apprehension among his Northwell EMTs and medics. “They were anxious,” he says, “so the best way to calm them is to go out there with them, and show them, Hey guys, I’m here with you. Let’s go.” Due in large part to the explosion of early cases in the area, Northwell Health has
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T H E L AW R E N T I A N
treated more COVID-19 patients than any other health system in the United States. Unfortunately, Robinson’s selfless urge to support his EMS team in the field soon saw him added to those numbers. “I went back out on the road, responding to emergencies, going into emergency rooms, but still facilitating the operations in there,” he recalls. “They were completely overrun. Everyone was either on a ventilator or about to be put on one.” The burgeoning number of COVID-19 cases, particularly in Queens – an early epicenter of infection – increased the danger for everyone involved. “We had two emergency rooms that were completely overrun. One is not too far from my home, so I checked on that one first, and they were really bad,” he says, recalling what was just his second shift since returning to the field. “Then I went to the one in Queens, and that was like nothing I’d ever seen before.” Later that week, Robinson began feeling achy not long after returning home. “I knew something was up, so I immediately quarantined in the basement and told my wife, ‘I think this is it,’” he says. “It kind of progressed from there to where it was just bad – very bad.” COVID-19 testing was still scarce in March, but as a frontline worker for a health system, Robinson was able to be
tested just a few days after becoming symptomatic. Almost immediately after receiving his positive diagnosis, his condition deteriorated. He began to have trouble breathing, and a trip to the hospital determined that he also had a COVIDrelated case of double pneumonia. With beds filling up, Robinson was released to go home, where he had oxygen tanks to ease his respiration if needed. He consumed an astonishing seven tanks’ worth that night. “My wife knew something wasn’t right,” Robinson says. “She called some of my friends – co-workers – and they said, ‘Yeah, we’re sending another ambulance.” Robinson, who is active in his church, was concerned and even fearful. He sent a text message to his pastor and other friends in the clergy to inform them of his condition. He explained frankly that he was not sure what the outcome would be. After being readmitted to the hospital, Robinson’s condition worsened. As with many lethal coronavirus infections, he struggled with the most fundamental physical tasks. “I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t get up. I couldn’t move. The exhaustion, my energy being so low – it was crazy,” he recalls. Just to stand up, I’d have to sit back down for twenty minutes to get my breath back. And my oxygen levels went down to 82 percent,
