BOISE, Idaho — Semi-trucks filled with bodies, gurney after gurney, and sheer exhaustion. Those are just some of the things Debbie Wilder saw when she traveled to New York last year to help frontline workers in what was then considered the nation's coronavirus epicenter.
“I kind of equate losing a loved one to COVID is similar to losing a loved one to suicide and until it happens to you, you can't wrap your head around it,” Wilder said.
Now, she's getting ready to do it again, but this time in Southern California.
“They're desperate for critical care nurses,” Wilder said.
She is a registered nurse in Boise. On Friday, Wilder will drive to Los Angeles County to work in an intensive care unit in Baldwin Park.
Her experience in New York was intense and eye-opening, she said, and she does have some post-traumatic stress after working there. However, Wilder feels she can still help and that's why she's decided to go where there is the most need right now.
“I think a lot of the nurses, especially in the critical care and the ER areas, they get overwhelmed and burned out and I think just having somebody show up that is there specifically just to help them out, helps with their morale and makes me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile,” she said.
Wilder will be in California for 13 weeks. She hopes her time in New York has prepared her for whatever awaits her in LA.
“I think I’m more realistic,” Wilder said. “When I went to New York I had no idea what I was going to be seeing and I think, like a lot of folks I was thinking COVID was like H1N1 when it first came out years ago, so I know what to expect more so now. I just hope I’m more mentally prepared for what I’m going to see this time.”
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