Colorado has seen about 4,000 more cases of coronavirus than Arizona so far.
Four respiratory therapists are in northern Colorado helping their colleagues treat COVID-19 patients, Phoenix-based healthcare provider Banner Health announced this weekend.
As of Monday, Arizona had a total of 3,702 COVID-19 cases and 122 deaths. As of Saturday (the most recent data available), Colorado had 7,303 cases and 290 deaths.
The medical professionals flew to Banner’s North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley – 60 miles north of Denver – in a private charter jet provided for free by Swift Aviation, a Phoenix transportation company. The private flight allowed the therapists to social distance from the general public and arrive faster.
The group will stay in Colorado for two to four weeks based on staffing needs.
Jessica Stingle, who normally works at Banner Boswell Medical Center in Sun City, said she will be sharing her knowledge gained from treating COVID-19 patients with her Colorado counterparts.
“I work with the ventilators, so I have knowledge of what’s going on in the lungs and how to try to help these people,” Stingle said in a Banner Health video.
“It’s been hard because these people have nobody with them, and so we do our best to make sure that they’re not alone,” she added.
As the therapists arrived this weekend, five nurses were returning to Phoenix from the Colorado hospital after a two-week assignment. The nurses were part of a group of 10 – the other five are staying for an additional two weeks.
One of those nurses was Jessica Flake. She treated COVID-19 patients in a progressive care unit, which is one step below the intensive care unit, where patients who must be intubated are placed.
Flake said it’s “scary” how fast patients can go from being stable to needing a ventilator.
“You are continuously monitoring these patients, and they change so quickly,” Flake said in a press release. “Multiple patients can change on you within minutes.”
Flake said she’s glad for the opportunity to collaborate across hospitals.
“It takes a team to help with these patients, especially just with the hands, as well as the knowledge,” she said. “Everyone’s brains combined together helps making these patients become better.”
Looking for the latest Arizona news in this time of crisis? Sign up for our daily newsletter and have it delivered straight to your inbox.
Author
Support Our Cause
Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for Arizonans and our future.
Since day one, our goal here at The Copper Courier has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of Arizona families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.
He said what? 10 things to know about RFK Jr.
The Kennedy family has long been considered “Democratic royalty.” But Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—son of Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated while...
Here’s everything you need to know about this month’s Mercury retrograde
Does everything in your life feel a little more chaotic than usual? Or do you feel like misunderstandings are cropping up more frequently than they...
Arizona expects to be back at the center of election attacks. Its officials are going on offense
Republican Richer and Democrat Fontes are taking more aggressive steps than ever to rebuild trust with voters, knock down disinformation, and...
George Santos’ former treasurer running attack ads in Arizona with Dem-sounding PAC name
An unregistered, Republican-run political action committee from Texas with a deceptively Democratic name and ties to disgraced US Rep. George Santos...
