LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Jerry Lucas knows war.
Lucas, an emergency room nurse at University of Louisville Hospital, served as a combat medic in the U.S. Army, but now he faces a new war: the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"We're just fighting an enemy you can''t see and a war that's not been declared," Lucas said. "Sometimes, we're fighting it with the weapons that are not up to speed for what we really need, but we do the best we can."
"It's no joke," he added. "This is no joke. You get it, and it could possibly kill you; and, if it doesn't kill you, it could kill one of your family members."
The hospital is a stress-filled environment, Lucas said. For every patient that comes into the emergency room, members of the University staff have to always be prepared for the unknown.
"On one hand, you could take care of a patient who looks absolutely fine that's infected," Lucas said. "And then you're taking care of a patient that has to be intubated, who you know is not fine, and we know that you probably have it."
And then there's the fear of bringing the virus home to a loved one.
"It's been hard, because a lot of us don't want to take this home to our families, yet we are doing this job to take care of you," Lucas said.
As the number of confirmed positive cases rise — up to at least 1,346 with 73 virus-related deaths as of Wednesday evening — Lucas' message is to not become numb to the numbers.
"Every American is just that: an American," he said, "and those numbers means one of us has died."
Nurses everywhere are asking you to stay home in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 and to save lives. Because, again, if you didn't hear it the first time ...
"It's no joke," Lucas said. "This is no joke. You get it, and it could possibly kill you; and, if it doesn't kill you, it could kill one of your fmaily members."
Lucas is also raising money for local emergency room nurses by selling T-shirts that say, "Emergency nurses: We are the front line in this fight."
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