Edmonton ICU doctor warns COVID-19 can be serious risk for young people

A doctor working in intensive care in Edmonton is warning serious COVID-19 cases may not be who you would expect.

Dr. Raiyan Chowdhury is a critical care specialist who does work at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. In a phone interview Wednesday, he described some of the things he's seen from the frontlines of the pandemic.

Chowdhury says the biggest surprise is seeing people in their 30s needing hospitalization from the illness.

"We've certainly had older people, but we've also had younger people as well," he said. Otherwise healthy people without any pre-existing conditions are being hospitalized — many of them their first time in the healthcare system.

"It's not the people that you would normally think," he said. "Younger people may be hospitalized by this or you don't necessarily have to have any pre-existing condition to deteriorate."

According to the Wednesday COVID-19 update from the province, there have been 62 hospitalizations in total with 20 admissions to intensive care units. So far, 142 Albertans have recovered.

Chowdhury says the other factor that has surprised him is the speed of decline in some patients even within the span of a single day.

"There's been people that we've seen in [emergency] that come in on a few litres of oxygen and then by the end of the day have really accelerated how much oxygen they're requiring to the point where they could need a ventilator."

However, Chowdhury said he is optimistic with preparations and that the necessary planning is in place from all quarters — nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, and others.

"It's basically all hands on deck and we're happy to see that," he said. Chowdhury said the general conversation around the intensive care unit is that health-care workers have the skills and equipment — including ventilators — to see people through the crisis.

"If they have a problem that's restricted to just their lungs," he warns.

Chowdhury says what worries doctors most is people with pre-existing conditions like heart, kidney, or lung issues. Organ failure could be a point of no return.

"Once that happens, it becomes very difficult for us to be able to get people through this."

Alberta's chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw continues to encourage Albertans to work together to help stop the spread of the virus by practicing physical distancing, washing hands regularly for at least 20 seconds and avoiding face-touching.

As of Wednesday, Alberta has 871 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 219 in the Edmonton zone. Eleven people have died.

On Monday, 34-year-old Shawn Auger became the youngest person to die of COVID-19 in Alberta.

Completely changed

In preparing for the coming surge, Chowdhury says the Royal Alexandra Hospital has completely changed.

"Even coming into the hospital, now you have to get screened for symptoms and hopefully a temperature check before you're allowed in," he said.

Chowdhury said he wants to see health-care workers wear face masks at all times and advocates for their use by the general public, referring to general face masks and not the specialty N95 respirator mask .

"Some may call it an overreaction but I feel like if we act now, you stay ahead of the curve."

Pandemic preparations have also changed how doctors interact with the families of patients. In the ICU, Chowdhury says they're used to talking to family members on a daily basis at the bedside of their loved ones.

"All of that now is out the door in order to limit how easily this thing could spread if it does come into the hospital," he said. Limitations have been put in place, including one visitor to one patient at a time.

"I do think that's the right approach," Chowdhury said. "We can't tell if the visitor is sick, we don't know they may be an asymptomatic case, so we do have to take incredible caution."

Technology is also helping keep people connected, Chowdhury says, with the use of programs like FaceTime.

The problem is worse for the families of patients unable to communicate because of intubation. Chowdhury said he has given out his cellphone to one patient's family member to give regular updates.

"We got to think outside of the box in medicine to help these people in this difficult time," he said.