Purchase an online subscription to our website. Each online subscription gives you full access to all of our newspaper websites and mobile applications.
For a limited time, for NEW SUBSCRIBERS ONLY a NEW ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION is just $59.99 for the first year. Existing customers do not qualify for the specials!
After the first year, we’ll automatically renew your subscription to continue your access at the regular price of $69.99 per year. Please note *Your Subscription will Automatically Renew unless you contact Customer Service To Cancel*
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to thank donors and volunteers as 20 powered air purifying respirators were delivered to the hospital Tuesday morning.
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to thank donors and volunteers as 20 powered air purifying respirators were delivered to the hospital Tuesday morning.
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
Chris George has run breathing tubes into nearly 100 COVID-19 patients, and every time he is in close quarters with a very sick person.
“I’m literally face to face putting the tube in,” said George, a nurse at Regional Medical Center. “And after intubation I’m supposed to be in the room for 30 minutes just to make sure their vitals are stable.”
Nearly eight months into the pandemic, George hasn’t caught COVID-19 yet. He was among a few dozen RMC staffers who gathered Tuesday morning at the hospital’s entrance to cheer as volunteers delivered 20 powered air purifying respirators, or PAPRs, paid for with $23,000 in local donations.
It’s a tidbit of good news that, a year ago, would have taken a bit of effort to explain. On Day 304 of Alabama’s struggle with the coronavirus, nearly everyone has learned a little of the lingo of the COVID ward.
When nurses and doctors intubate patients — placing a tube down the windpipe of someone with a severe case of coronavirus to help them breathe — they typically wear protective N95 masks, according to George. The PAPR (pronounced “papper”) is a big step up from that.
It’s vaguely akin to a gas mask, with a hose that runs down to a filter. It’s expensive, in the $1,000-per-unit range, but George and others at the hospital say it will make work safer for the people who work most closely with coronavirus patients.
On Tuesday morning, there were 17 coronavirus patients on ventilators at the hospital out of a total of 65 COVID-19 patients at RMC, according to Dr. Almena Free, chief medical officer at RMC. That’s down from a peak of about 85 patients earlier this month.
Health workers hold out little hope that the numbers will stay that low.
“Unfortunately, I think we’re going to get higher than 85, just because of that surge from Christmas,” George said.
More than 10,000 people in Calhoun County have had COVID-19 since the virus first appeared in Alabama in mid-March. New cases declined a little at the end of December, but by Tuesday the county was again averaging about 100 new cases a day, near the December peak.
By the official count, 195 people in the county have died of COVID-19 in the pandemic. That’s an increase of 40 since the Alabama Department of Public Health’s official count from last week. Assistant state health officer Dr. Karen Landers said the increase probably isn’t due to a surge in actual deaths in the past few days.
“We’ve been working through a backlog of records,” Landers said. She said the increased numbers came from review of earlier deaths that have since been attributed to COVID.
1 of 23
RMC employee Reymond Vargas and Oxford PD officer Gerald Lyons remove powered air purifying respirators that were donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC employee Reymond Vargas and Oxford PD officer Tim Pitts remove donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC employee Reymond Vargas and Oxford PD officer Gerald Lyons remove donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC employee Reymond Vargas and Oxford PD officer Gerald Lyons remove donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Oxford PD officers Tim Pitts and Gerald Lyons remove powered air purifying respirators that were donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver powered air purifying respirators to donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Oxford PD officers Tim Pitts and Gerald Lyons remove powered air purifying respirators to donate to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver powered air purifying respirators to donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Oxford PD officer Tim Pitts surveys the crowd. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC CEO, Louis Bass, employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver powered air purifying respirators to donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC CEO, Louis Bass, employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver powered air purifying respirators to donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC CEO, Louis Bass, employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver powered air purifying respirators to donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Oxford PD officers Tim Pitts and Gerald Lyons look on as RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You as they deliver donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC CEO Louis Bass claps as employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to thank donors and volunteers as 20 powered air purifying respirators were delivered to the hospital Tuesday morning.
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You as powered air purifying respirators are donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Dr Raul Magadia thanks Oxford PD officers Tim Pitts and Gerald Lyons as they deliver donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You as powered air purifying respirators are donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC employee Reymond Vargas and Oxford PD officer Tim Pitts cart powered air purifying respirators inside that were donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC CEO Louis Bass looks on as employee Reymond Vargas cart powered air purifying respirators inside that were donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC CEO Louis Bass looks on as employee Reymond Vargas and Oxford PD officer Gerald Lyons remove powered air purifying respirators that were donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photos: Powered Air Purifying Respirators Donated to RMC
Photos of powered air purifying respirators being donated to RMC.
1 of 23
RMC employee Reymond Vargas and Oxford PD officer Gerald Lyons remove powered air purifying respirators that were donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC employee Reymond Vargas and Oxford PD officer Tim Pitts remove donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC employee Reymond Vargas and Oxford PD officer Gerald Lyons remove donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC employee Reymond Vargas and Oxford PD officer Gerald Lyons remove donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
Oxford PD officers Tim Pitts and Gerald Lyons remove powered air purifying respirators that were donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver powered air purifying respirators to donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
Oxford PD officers Tim Pitts and Gerald Lyons remove powered air purifying respirators to donate to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver powered air purifying respirators to donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Oxford PD officer Tim Pitts surveys the crowd. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC CEO, Louis Bass, employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver powered air purifying respirators to donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC CEO, Louis Bass, employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver powered air purifying respirators to donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC CEO, Louis Bass, employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver powered air purifying respirators to donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
Oxford PD officers Tim Pitts and Gerald Lyons look on as RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You as they deliver donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC CEO Louis Bass claps as employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You to the Oxford PD as they deliver donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to thank donors and volunteers as 20 powered air purifying respirators were delivered to the hospital Tuesday morning.
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You as powered air purifying respirators are donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
Dr Raul Magadia thanks Oxford PD officers Tim Pitts and Gerald Lyons as they deliver donated powered air purifying respirators to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC employees, doctors and board members gather to give a big Thank You as powered air purifying respirators are donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
RMC employee Reymond Vargas and Oxford PD officer Tim Pitts cart powered air purifying respirators inside that were donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC CEO Louis Bass looks on as employee Reymond Vargas cart powered air purifying respirators inside that were donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
RMC CEO Louis Bass looks on as employee Reymond Vargas and Oxford PD officer Gerald Lyons remove powered air purifying respirators that were donated to RMC Tuesday morning. Photo by Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
Photo by Stephen Gross / The Anniston Star
Backlogged numbers have caused surges in the death toll and case count in the past, adding fuel to the fire for COVID skeptics online, who sometimes claim the numbers are overestimates.
For hospital staff, though, the deaths are all too real. As they cheered for the arriving supplies Tuesday morning, some of the health care workers wore black. Many expected to attend the funeral of Dr. Dennis Bonner, an Anniston cardiologist, later the same day.
“It is a shame,” said George, who planned to be a pallbearer at Bonner’s funeral. “He was my mentor, really. I learned everything about how to practice the art of medicine from him.”
George said he doesn’t know whether Bonner would ultimately be counted among the official casualties of COVID. The doctor was in intensive care on RMC’s COVID unit, but was later moved off the COVID ward after he no longer tested positive for the virus, and was later transferred to UAB Hospital due to multiple organ failure, George said.
“Dr. Bonner is an icon in the community,” RMC CEO Louis Bass said. “He was an outstanding cardiologist, a great person. It was a big loss to the community, his passing.”
Bass declined comment on Bonner’s cause of death, saying he didn’t know enough of the specifics.
George, the RMC nurse, said there is no way to know whether Bonner caught COVID while working with patients. He said there’s a risk of catching the virus outside the hospital, just as there is on the COVID ward. Sometimes more, he said, because hospital workers regularly wear masks and wash their hands.
“Someone in your family might come into contact with somebody who doesn’t take the same precautions,” he said.
Capitol & statewide reporter Tim Lockette: 256-294-4193. On Twitter @TLockette_Star.