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Around the world, the number of COVID-19 cases proceed to rise, and the medical professionals working on the front lines to combat that growing pandemic continue to experience a shortage of masks and other life-saving personal protective equipment (PPE).

Nowhere is that discrepancy more apparent than New York, which now has the highest number of COVID-19 cases worldwide. At the time of this writing, New York has more than 242,000 confirmed cases, with over 134,000 of those from New York City.

Located at ground zero is 香港六合彩资料 biology alumna Dr. Reem Sheikh, surgery faculty at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine who experienced the PPE shortage firsthand.

鈥淭his situation is a blessing because at least we have the opportunity to do something,鈥� said Sheikh. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 also challenging because it鈥檚 difficult physically, difficult emotionally, difficult mentally 鈥� there鈥檚 so much to it. Protecting ourselves and protecting our loved ones, it鈥檚 not easy by any means. We鈥檙e used to chaos, but we鈥檙e used to controlled chaos. This is unknown territory.鈥�

Upon first glance, there doesn鈥檛 seem to be much overlap between podiatry and respiratory illness like the coronavirus, aside from the fact that the overwhelming number of cases have essentially turned entire hospitals into dedicated COVID-19 wings. But as Sheikh explains it, much of her work is responding to emergency surgeries as they emerge during this constantly shifting health care landscape.

鈥淭here鈥檚 so much about COVID that鈥檚 unknown, and more and more things are coming to light. The way I鈥檓 involved is with emergent surgeries pertaining to foot and ankle, so amputations that are needed for infection control and limb salvage in critical diabetic patients,鈥� said Sheikh. 鈥淏ecause of COVID, we have to take extra precautions that we didn鈥檛 before to protect us and to protect our patients. Everything has to be taken another step further basically to ensure safety.鈥�

In addition to being faculty at the podiatry college, Dr. Sheikh is an attending physician at the Metropolitan Hospital Center in East Harlem where she supervises and trains nine surgical residents, all of whom rotate between different positions on the front lines of COVID-19, stepping up to serve during this pandemic 鈥� from testing centers to in-patient floors, the surgical intensive care unit to the emergency room.

Over the last few weeks, Dr. Sheikh witnessed the number of COVID-19 cases rapidly increase from the teens to the hundreds of thousands. As she watched her residents and colleagues keep pace with the growing pandemic, even through PPE shortages, Dr. Sheikh put out a call for help on social media.

鈥淚 reached out to my mommy group on Facebook and I posted a plea for myself and my residents,鈥� said Sheikh. 鈥淲ithin hours, a local school donated 40 pairs of goggles, snacks and another volunteer sent 400 masks. Then I posted a thank you video and it sort of went viral.鈥�

CBS News saw Sheikh鈥檚 message and , which caught the attention of even more people who wanted to contribute. To manage the increase of goodwill, she partnered with four members from her Facebook group who helped continue fundraising, vet PPE vendors and manage public relations. Since her initial request, Dr. Sheikh estimates she鈥檚 received around $18,000 in donations, which has been used to order PPE for her residents and colleagues in various departments.

鈥淧eople are homebound, but they want to help those who are fighting on the front lines,鈥� said Sheikh. 鈥淚鈥檓 so humbled by the response we鈥檝e received. I started by saying, 鈥楬ey, is there a pair of goggles for me and some of my people?鈥� And it galvanized the community and brought an avenue for people to help. It really has been a tremendous effort and would not have been possible without the support of my mom volunteers. Moms get things done.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e all in this together,鈥� she continues. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 anything that people can do to help, whether it鈥檚 staying at home or donating supplies that they have in their closets, whatever people can do, this is the time to work together and get through this together. It鈥檚 time for all of us to step up and do whatever we can in our own ways. Really it鈥檚 a community-wide effort.鈥�

 

Written by Matt Jardin, 香港六合彩资料 Office of University Advancement