Andy and ER doctor Megan Ranney take you inside her Rhode Island emergency department to hear just how thinly stretched everyone and everything is during the Omicron wave. Nearly two years into this pandemic, we are all exhausted. But as you can hear in Megan's voice, the people who staff emergency departments have been pushed to their breaking point. Go with her on a recent shift as she treats patients, talks with her colleagues, and reflects on the toll that practicing emergency medicine during COVID has taken on all of them.

 

Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt and Instagram @andyslavitt. 

 

Follow Megan @meganranney on Twitter.

 

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Check out these resources from today’s episode: 

 

• Read more from Megan on what it’s like in the emergency department during Omicron: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/01/21/omicron-er-doctor-stress/
• Check out this piece by Ed Yong, featuring Megan, about the toll Omicron is taking on hospitals, patients, and health care workers in America: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/01/omicron-mild-hospital-strain-health-care-workers/621193/
• Learn more about BA. 2, a new version of the Omicron variant: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/01/24/covid-omicron-ba2/
• Find a COVID-19 vaccine site near you: https://www.vaccines.gov/ 
• Order Andy’s book, Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165 

 

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For additional resources, information, and a transcript of the episode, visit lemonadamedia.com/show/inthebubble.

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