A doctor s view of the pandemic front line: ER doctor, 29, documents COVID-19 battle in LA hospital with emotional photographs of his colleagues dealing with graphic, tragic, and unforgettable human suffering
Dr Scott Kobner, 29, chief resident at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center’s Department of Emergency Medicine, documented his front-line colleagues
The amateur photographer took pictures of doctors and patients at the 600-bed public hospital using Leica M6 and M10 cameras and posted them on Instagram
Dr Kobner had permission from the hospital and patients
Kobner, originally from New York, doesn t photograph people he treats but comes in on his days off instead
Armed with a camera, an ER doctor captures the faces of the coronavirus war stripes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stripes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Dr. Christine Ritchie’s estimate, about 2 million people in the United States are homebound, and an additional 5 million have trouble leaving home or need help doing so.
Yet those millions of people “tend to be
sort of invisible to society,” said Ritchie, a professor at Harvard Medical School.
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They can’t drive through mass vaccination sites or stand in line outside clinics. Even if they secure a coveted appointment spot, they can’t leave their house to get there.
Now there are doctors and nurses racing against traffic, inclement weather and a ticking clock to get to them.
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From behind her face shield, the young doctor stares straight ahead.
She stands behind a COVID-19 patient lying supine on an operating table. A vitals monitor shows the man’s heart is pounding and that he’s taking 47 breaths per minute quadruple the normal rate. A nurse’s gloved hand reaches over him, clutching a syringe.
In the black-and-white photograph, the doctor’s eyes are wide.
The person who captured the moment didn’t have to ask why.
Dr. Scott Kobner outside L.A. County-USC Medical Center in Boyle Heights. When the COVID-19 pandemic began last spring, devastating Kobner’s home state of New York before surging in California, he knew history was unfolding. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)