Now, she has the tracheostomy tube we placed in her neck with a cap, because she doesn't need it to help her breathe any more. In the past month, 150 tracheostomies have been done in our hospital for Covid-19 patients --nearly twice as many as we would normally do in an entire year. Each patient requires special care to make sure their tracheostomy tube does not become blocked and obstruct their breathing. The team includes airway surgeons, thoracic surgeons, critical care surgeons, anesthesiologists, intensive care doctors, speech and language pathologists, and respiratory therapists. After weeks of onslaught of relentless coronavirus illness and patients circling in downward spirals, we are seeing our sickest patients come out the other side.

Source: CNN May 25, 2020 21:45 UTC