Fairmont, Oakwood grads working at epicenter of pandemic

That’s understandable considering their current circumstances. Higgins, 34, is working as a visiting nurse practitioner and Arbogast, 27, as a physician assistant at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 has hit New York City harder than any area in the country, and Elmhurst Hospital has seen the worst of it. It has been described as the “epicenter of the epicenter.” Recent New York Times headlines tell the story.

March 25: "An 'Apocalyptic' coronavirus surge at an N.Y.C. hospital."

March 30: "Nurses die, doctors fall sick and panic rises on virus front lines."

April 9: "A tragedy is unfolding: Inside New York's virus epicenter."

» CORONAVIRUS: Complete coverage

As of Tuesday night, New York City had reported almost 15,000 deaths from COVID-19: 9,944 confirmed and 5,052 probable. Almost 4,000 of those deaths occurrred in Queens.

That’s the situation Higgins and Arbogast faced when they jumped right into the fray in March, joining the front lines of the battle despite the obvious risks for themselves. They’ve been so busy, they didn’t have time for phone interviews with the Dayton Daily News but answered questions by email and also let their parents speak for them.

Instinct and adrenaline

Prior to the pandemic, Higgins was working in Dallas for an elective dermatology group with offices in California, Texas, Chicago and New York City. Her offices closed when the crisis began, and she faced a furlough. She heard about the need for nurses in New York City and was hired by a visiting nurse agency.

The process moved fast. Her parents, Pat and Mike Higgins, of Kettering, said she told them on a Thursday she planned to go to New York, and three days later, she flew to the city. Higgins arrived at Elmhurst in late March and has been staying at a Wyndham hotel with other visiting nurses. They are bused back and forth to their hospitals each day.

“For the first three weeks, we worked six to seven days per week, 12-hour shifts,” Higgins wrote. “The bus would leave for the hospital at 6 a.m., and we would get back to the hotel at 8 p.m. After the first three weeks, we went to a five day per week, 12-hour shift schedule. When I worked as a nurse in the hospital, I would work three 12-hour shifts per week, and every once in a while pick up an extra short shift for some overtime. This schedule was double what I had been used to working and took a lot of mental strength to get through.”

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Higgins drew an assignment in the emergency department in which she was strictly evaluating and treating COVID-19 patients. She said the number of patients overwhelmed the hospital in the first two weeks, and a large percentage had to be admitted to the hospital for further treatment. Patients with milder symptoms were sent home and told to return if symptoms worsened or they had breathing difficulties.

“The emergency department became an area where patients waited for beds on the in-patient units,” Higgins wrote. “There were 70-90 patients waiting at a time, while more continued to come to the hospital seeking evaluation.”

The first 14 days exhausted her mentally and physically.

“I believe it was a mix of nursing instinct and adrenaline that kept us working so hard for so many days in a row,” she wrote.

No typical days

Arbogast admitted he typed his answers to the Dayton Daily News questions while wearing gloves, one of the pieces of personal protective equipment keeping him safe during long days and nights at Elmhurst. He arrived at the hospital on March 2 and will stay until May 15.

“I came to New York City because I wanted to be part of the pandemic,” Arbogast wrote. “As a health-care provider, I felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of history and experience it first hand.”

Arbogast left his wife Christina, who’s teaching English online, at their home in Satellite Beach, Fla., to take on this assignment, his mom Rebecca Arbogast, of Oakwood said.

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Arbogast worked a 9-5 shift Monday through Friday at his previous job and had to adapt fast to 12-hour days seven days a week. He has worked as many as 15 days in a row.

“There is no typical day as this is disaster relief in the emergency department,” he wrote. “Everyone is there to help and do what needs to be done. There are days where all I did was blood draws and hang medication, as the nurses were too busy to do their typical duties.”

Elmhurst restructured its whole hospital to deal with the pandemic, Arbogast wrote, and he was assigned to a COVID-19 unit where patients are on oxygen therapy, awaiting a bed. Some patients waited so long for that bed, they improved enough on their own to go home in two to four days. Of course, the hospital also continues to treat regular emergencies.

“However, almost everyone who comes through the door has COVID,” Arbogast wrote. “I have seen people in car accidents who also have COVID, hip fracture patients that also have COVID. It is so ubiquitous in this area that it is almost assumed that the patient is COVID positive.”

Acts of kindness

Despite the long days and health concerns for workers at Elmhurst, outside support has made their jobs easier.

A group of New York City art and celebrity photographers raised more than $1.3 million for the hospital in a Pictures for Elmhurst project. Lillian Huang, whose dad has worked at the hospital for 23 years, started a fundraiser on GoFundMe.com to raise money for the hospital to purchase more PPE and testing kits and to help hospital workers in other ways.

Workers at the hospital have been well fed. A Kettering neighbor even sent Cheryl’s Cookies to Higgins and her co-workers.

“The acts of kindness have been amazing,” Higgins wrote. “Various restaurants across the city donate meals to the hospital workers, and the hotel where we are staying has received meal and snack donations from many different companies. Times Square has huge displays of thanks to front-line and essential workers. One thing that sticks out the most are the New York firefighters and police officers that gather outside of the hospitals at shift change to cheer on the health-care workers. Although we don’t go into health care for recognition, it’s nice to have that support from the city.”

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Arbogast sees the kindness everywhere and marvels at how the city has embraced health-care workers. On Wednesday, a New York Police Department escort guided the bus carrying workers to the hospital.

“People donate food all day every day,” he wrote. “School children make cards and posters. The fire departments greet us outside with flashing lights. Probably the most emotional moment I have experienced since being here is a fire fighter telling us, ‘You had our backs on 9/11; now it’s our turn to have yours.’”

Proud and nervous

Higgins is an experienced traveler who has always been adventurous, said her parents. However, that’s not the main reason she jumped at the chance to help in New York City.

“She is also a caring and compassionate person,” Pat and Mike wrote in an email. “She cares for her patients by listening and determining their needs. Regarding her employees, she helps them to achieve their greatest potential by listening and providing training. With this combination of adventure and compassion, she could not sit by and do nothing.”

Higgins doesn’t know how long she’ll stay at Elmhurst. She’s monitoring the situation in Texas, her parents said, because when her office does reopen, she knows she’ll have to quarantine for 14 days after returning from New York.

Back home in Kettering, her parents are nervous, but their spirits are boosted every time she tells them she made it home safely to the hotel. Her communication has made it easier on them, even if sometimes she’s too tired to talk.

“The thing that strikes us the most is how proud we are that she volunteered,” Mike said. “We’re not surprised. Proud is probably the best word for it.”

It’s a similar story in Oakwood for Logan’s parents, Rebecca and Gary Arbogast.

“We’re very proud of him,” Rebecca said. “He’s doing a great job, meeting a lot of people from all over the county. He has great stories. He met someone who’s a first responder from 9/11. He has always wanted to do this: to help people in need.”