On the Frontlines: Students & Alumni Provide Essential Work in Pandemic
By Sarah Lynch & Tara Guaimano
About one month ago, Victoria Paszel ‘20 received her first call to transport a COVID-19-positive patient. As an EMT working in Dutchess and Putnam County, Paszel’s day-to-day activities generally include transporting patients between facilities or answering 911 calls. This routine would be typical in many ways –– except for a few glaring details: security guards manned the ends of each hallway, protecting healthy patients and unprotected workers as Paszel, her partner, and the patient moved through the hospital.
“It felt like we were in the secret service wheeling the president down in a stretcher,” Paszel said. “That was the first time I realized the severity of the situation and urgency to stop the spread of the virus.”
Now, Paszel sees between three and five COVID-19 patients per day. As of May 19, cases in the U.S. approached 1.5 million, resulting in over 89,000 deaths.
Marist alumnus Justin DiBiase works full-time as an EMT in Brookfield, Conn.
Marist alumnus Justin DiBiase works full-time as an EMT in Brookfield, Conn. He worked with the Fairview Fire Department while he was a student at Marist. Source: Marist SGA
DiBiase’s daily precautions heightened in response to the virus. They are more diligent about wiping things down, spraying the ambulance, and wearing layers of personal protective equipment. With increased diligence in removing clothes and equipment, the process takes about a half hour. Paszel will often stop to wash her clothes and take a shower before coming home to her parents.
“We just need to do our part to stop the spread and continue to stay home and social distance until we get all of the information we need to beat this,”
Terrell Vassell ‘20 works as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) at the Hudson Valley Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center. After work, he changes into new clothes, leaving his scrubs in a bag in his trunk, and showers immediately when he returns home. At the center, Vassell works directly with COVID-19-positive patients. These facilities have become hot beds for virus transmissions, and a third of COVID-19 related deaths in the U.S. have been nursing home residents or workers.
For Vassell, these losses feel particularly personal.
“All deaths are important, and I know the doctors and nurses at the hospitals mourn their losses. However, at the nursing home, these residents are basically our family. We have been with them for quite some time — years, if I may add — and to see them suddenly get ill and pass away is heartbreaking,” Vassell said. “A lot of them don’t have family members, and that’s when we become all the family they have.”
Terrell Vassell ‘20 works as a CNA at Hudson Valley Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center. After work, he changes into new clothes, leaving his scrubs in a bag in his trunk, and showers immediately when he returns home. Source: Vassell
Vassell has worked over 40 hours per week since his senior year of high school. Though he has experience balancing school and his job, the added pressure at work from the virus poses a unique challenge. With the exception of one professor who is “acting completely oblivious to the situation,” he said his professors have been understanding and willing to work with him.
For Vassell, being a CNA brings more than financial stability — it delivers personal satisfaction and fosters caring relationships.
“It gives me so much joy to know that with just a bright smile on my face, I can make the residents’ day,” Vassell said. “A lot of these residents need excellent CNAs like myself who value and cherish their work in order for them to simply survive.”
Paszel considers helping and healing the sick a superpower of sorts, and her interest in the medical field piqued at an early age, watching her mom work as a nurse. Her experience working during the outbreaks has only strengthened her desire to pursue his line of work.
“Being part of the reason we can get through these difficult times is priceless. I’m proud to be doing it and I plan to keep doing it until we overcome the virus,” Paszel said.
Vassell is planning to attend pharmacy school after his time at Marist concludes. Source: Vassell
Across the country and using a myriad of creative methods, citizens celebrate and applaud frontline workers and medical professionals. At 7 p.m. every evening, New Yorkers cheer, bang pots and pans, and blare the dulcet tones Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.” On Easter Sunday, lights projected the words “thank you” in many languages on the famous Rio de Janeiro statue, Christ the Redeemer, who appeared donned in a doctor’s jacket. DiBiase said residents in his area have delivered food items and hand-sewn masks.
Though lockdown restrictions in many states may be easing, DiBiase cautions citizens from becoming too comfortable.
“We just started to have a slowdown, and that doesn’t mean that the virus is gone,”
“We just started to have a slowdown, and that doesn’t mean that the virus is gone,” DiBiase said. He reinforced the importance of following the recommendations of doctors and experts. Though he predicts everyone will contract the virus at some point, he said these measures will work to ensure the hospitals are not overwhelmed and the ambulances can reach everyone who needs them.
Paszel recognized the still-present uncertainties about the virus, especially when considering the wide range of symptoms, but her faith in the medical field remains steadfast.
“I know we have brilliant minds conducting extensive research,” Paszel said. “We just need to do our part to stop the spread and continue to stay home and social distance until we get all of the information we need to beat this.”