NBC | ‘End of life as we know it’
From Yahoo / NBC News on July 27, 2020
At the height of the coronavirus pandemic in New York, emergency medical services Capt. AJ Briones’ teams were fielding nearly 700 calls a day, tending to numerous patients going into cardiac arrest, many others needing intubations and seeing more deaths than they ever intended to see.
“We didn’t know that would be the end of life as we know it,” Briones, 32, who works for Empress Emergency Medical Services in Yonkers, Westchester County, said. “It literally shut down the whole world.”
Now with cases down in the state, his EMS teams can sometimes catch their breath for a moment. But with cases rising rapidly around the country, Briones reflected on the virus’ devastating toll, how far New York has come and his concerns about a possible second wave in the state.
