Dispatches from the pandemic front

When Emerson (Emmie) Morton, PA '18, and Kelsey Kusch, PA '19, began working in Beaumont Grosse Pointe's Emergency Room, it was exactly the professional role they'd hoped for -- one well worth the rigors of navigating Eastern's demanding Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies graduate program. 

Emmie came to EMU's PA Program after receiving a BS from Central Michigan University and working as an emergency room technician. Kelsey's background included an Exercise Science degree from Adrian College and work in the field as a medical assistant and nursing assistant. 

But notwithstanding such significant clinical experience, probably nothing could have prepared Emmie and Kelsey -- or any practitioner -- for what came next: COVID. Virtually immediately, they and other ER staff found themselves spending exhausting 10-hour shifts in protective gear, evaluating and triaging a continuing influx of patients in outdoor tents, or, due to social distancing and overflowing emergency rooms, even in their cars and trucks. Daily changes to Health Department and CDC guidelines added to the confusion and stress, and in the pandemic's early weeks and months, a total absence of tests and vaccines forced clinicians to diagnose and treat based on signs and symptoms alone. "It was wild," admits Emmie -- a period when stress and anxiety reverberated throughout society, but nowhere more so than for emergency room staff, healthcare's first responders.

What kept Emmie and Kelsey motivated throughout those enormously stressful workdays, coupled with concerns for their own health and isolation from family and friends? Both claim it was the camaraderie made possible by working at a small community hospital and, in particular, the camaraderie of dedicated colleagues in the ER -- among them fellow EMU alum Mark Sadzikowski, MD, BS '74. The feeling is clearly mutual. "We all worked together during the Covid pandemic and continue to do so," writes Dr. Sadzikowski. "I've worked with a number of PA's from the EMU program and found them to be extremely competent and caring. It seems like "empathy" is just part of their inherent nature. Emmie and Kelsey do a fantastic job, and I would let them treat myself or my family. They are a pleasure to work with!"

Emmie and Kelsey enthusiastically applauded Dr. "Sadz's" goal of getting the three of them together for a photo shoot in their EMU green and white. That turned out to be a memorable image, but if they'd like a newer one, it may need to wait -- ER visits are picking up again.