WEBVTT

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- [Brittany] Hi, I'm
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class

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Brittany Berkley from Hampton, Virginia.

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I'm stationed here currently
on the USNS Comfort.

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I am a member of the ground team here

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with patient transport.

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Our job is to make sure that patients

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are getting where they need to be

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with the correct care at the correct time.

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So we have to manage three
different types of communication

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from our radio and three
different chat groups

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or information systems.

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So we have a system where
we have people out in town

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who are generating
information from the patients

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and finding patients
that will match our needs

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or what we have here at the Comfort,

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and from there, the information
gets translated to the MOC.

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And the MOC is the
medical officer in charge.

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And once that information gets to him,

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it gets disseminated out
to the various departments

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so that we know where they're
going, what their needs are,

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who's coming, and when
they're gonna be here,

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which allows us to provide
that proper transportation

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for our patients.

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How it works is the MOC
communicates with different parties,

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and because we're also
part of that communication,

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we also get the information.

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So when there's a vehicle here to come in,

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we're notified that that vehicle is here,

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we call the transport
team so that they're here

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when the vehicle arrives, and then,

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we have the information
on who the patient is

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so that if they need extra care,

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like if they're going to the ICU

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and they need some ventilation,

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we have that information as well.

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It's been a lot of interesting pieces

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in kind of building
this from the ground up.

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It started from three chairs and

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three people in the cold,

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now we have two tents currently,

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and three teams working effectively.

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So it's been a great
experience seeing these people

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come and being super grateful and

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super amazed at what they're

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actually being a part of,

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and here it is one of those

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once in a life time opportunities that

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we get to be a part of because

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this has never happened before.

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So when patients are arriving to us

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some are super excited to be here

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and be a part of the process

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and some are a little apprehensive

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just because we are intimidating.

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Coming up on a group of
people in yellow gowns,

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gloves, and masks and seeing white tents

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can be extremely scary,

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so myself and my nursing staff here

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we try to make them as
comfortable as possible,

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giving them great eye contact,

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talking to them, smiling with them,

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communicating with them,

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making sure that they
have everything they need

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from the EMS staff as well as we,

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so that kind of alleviates a lot of

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the apprehension as
well as the nervousness.

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It is a scary time for a lot of

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the older population,
so we try to make them

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at ease as much as possible.

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You smile with your eyes!

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You're smiling in your mask,

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but when you smile your eyes also smile,

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so giving them that eye contact

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and letting them know that
they're gonna be okay.

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When patients come down,
they're super grateful.

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I actually talked to one of the members

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that was getting discharged the other day

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and he was super happy to
not only be going home,

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but to be able to receive
the care that he did.

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There was also another gentlemen

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that was being discharged

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and he was the most sweetest older man,

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he was so happy he almost
tried to pay some people,

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but we were like "No,
sir, we're here for you,

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we're just happy that you're healthy

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and you're able to go home".

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So everybody seems to
be really really happy

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with the care they're receiving onboard

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with the hospitality
and the bedside manner,

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so I've heard nothing but great things.

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I'm hoping that the momentum keeps going,

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we keep getting patients in

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and also getting them out,

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because that's our goal here.

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So when we receive patients
that are getting discharged

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a lot of the feedback
is genuine happiness.

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They are excited about the
care that they received,

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the hospitality that they received

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between the nursing staff as well as

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our corpsman staff,

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they rave about the people
that are on the wards,

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some of them don't want to go,

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so we can't keep them as
much as we want to, we can't.

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But they love it here,

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they definitely appreciate
the time and the effort

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that we've all taken to participate

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and alleviate some of the madness
that's currently going on.

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I am a nurturer by nature,

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so being able to put that into practice,

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and help people, and save
lives and change their lives

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is an awesome opportunity for us.

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I'm a hospital corpsman by trade,

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I'm a nurturer by nature,
so it kinda plays into that

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and just being able to see people leave

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healthy and happy.

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As long as I can do that and
we can be a part of that,

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I couldn't ask for anything else.