COM Outlook Summer/Fall 2020

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 7 Because the hospital’s policy at the time prevented family members from visiting a COVID-19-positive patient, Andrade helped the patient use his phone to FaceTime loved ones. “He struggled to get the words out, but eventually, they all said their emotional goodbyes. This was the heaviest moment in my life,” Andrade admitted. “This exchange with a stranger changed me. This was minute one, day one of my volunteering in the COVID-19 units. I went home and cried after my first day.” Haunting Insights During his time as a volunteer physician in the COVID-19 units at both hospitals, Andrade dealt with an array of duties that shifted on a daily basis. “I took the approach that any help is good help. I wasn’t above any responsi- bility,” Andrade explained. “One day, I placed central intravenous lines in patients needing lifesaving medications, which was a proce- dure I hadn’t done since I was a general surgery resident. But, like riding a bike, the ability came back quickly.” Some of the tasks he had to perform, however, were much more gruesome. “Due to the overwhelm- ing daily deaths that occurred, I helped move expired patients from the hospital morgue to a mobile morgue unit,” he said. “These makeshift ‘mobile morgues’ were refrigerated Walmart trailers that were meant for transporting meat and poultry across the country. These trailers were now serving as overflow mobile morgues until the decedents were taken to a mass burial site in New York City to Above: Andrade, back row, left, poses with sev- eral hardworking nurses at the Brooklyn hospital. Right: Peter Andrade