Long Haulers Covid in EMS
3 years ago, the world turned upside down as this unknown, scary virus took a hold of us. At first, it seemed unreal as our only knowledge of it was through the media and the CDC….it was not personal yet. That quickly changed as it started hitting our communities, patients, and even more personally…our family and friends. We, as EMS professionals, were receiving a new training, article of PPE and rule to follow practically every shift. It became very evident that this sickness affected people in vastly different ways. There were reported symptoms of difficulty breathing, sore throat, runny nose, cough, headache, loss of taste & smell, extreme fatigue, fever, aches & pains, GI upset, dizziness, etc.
Fast forward, here we are smack dab in the middle 2022…….and while case numbers are low, the long term effects we are seeing are significant. There is simply no way I could cover them all in this post, but some are too significant to ignore. Just to name a few of the post COVID-19 complications that have been reported are cardiac issues/damage 🫀(persistent tachycardia, inflammation or infection in the heart, palpitations, etc.), pulmonary damage/issues 🫁 (pneumonia, recurrent upper respiratory issues, shortness of breath), 🧠 neurological issues/damage (distorted senses, POTS, strokes, memory problems, cognitive issues, etc.), kidney issues/damage (chronic infection or even the need for dialysis) and in some cases even the reactivation of latent viruses have occurred.
Do we have specific treatments for Long-haulers Covid in EMS? Aside from treating symptoms, no. BUT…..so many of us in EMS as well as our family/friends contracted COVID-19. If you are seeing or noticing any of these issues in yourself or others that were not there prior to this illness, please see your doctor 🩺. I know, I know, we don’t go to the doctor, right? While that may be true, it might be time to start as we really don’t know the long term (5+ yrs) effects and tackling it early may make a huge difference. Knowledge is power!
Resources: www.hopkinsmedicine.org , www.verywellhealth.com , cdc.gov, www.mayoclinic.org