In Pima County and Arizona, diagnosed positive COVID-19 cases are on the rise. Emergency room and ICU beds are reaching capacity because of a rise of cases and healthcare workers are becoming overwhelmed. We spoke with Dr. Bradley Dreifuss who is on the front lines in Tucson medicine. He’s an emergency medicine physician and assistant professor in the colleges of medicine and public health at the University of Arizona.
He’s also the co-founder of HCW HOSTED. HCW HOSTED is a grassroots community-based organization mobilizing to meet healthcare worker needs during COVID-19 and any future pandemic threats likely to occur in our near future. An overlooked aspect of pandemic preparedness and response is the preparation of healthcare and critical infrastructure workers for lengthy periods of time when they put their families at heightened risk of infection.