It was Thanksgiving Day 2020 and one healthcare worker spent it alone.
We will all remember how most human impulses – hugs, gatherings, and connectivity – changed last year.
For JRMC Emergency Department Physician Dr. Scott Goecke, those changes required personal and professional sacrifice.
Dr. Goecke joined the team at Jamestown Regional Medical Center in 2006. In addition to his on-the-job experience – he is trained in advanced trauma life support and resuscitation and care of trauma patients – he shares personal experience with patients.
CARING FOR PATIENTS
A 2004 car accident on Interstate 94 broke 11 of his ribs and left him nearly lifeless. While vented and on chest tubes, doctors told his family to prepare for the worst.
“Life is fragile,” he said. “Maybe I’m here for a reason. Maybe I can help a few more people.”
That’s why he took such precautions on Thanksgiving and throughout 2020 and now into 2021. He’s seen life on both sides of the ventilator. His family lives nearby and traveling for Thanksgiving wasn’t a challenge. However, he wanted to protect them from any germs he may have carried home from work. Positive cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) hit record highs that month. Though it’s better now, North Dakota topped national lists of both mortality and positivity rates at the time.
Though he has more than 20 years of emergency care experience, Dr. Goecke said treating COVID-positive patients shook him. He knows how to handle the stress of an emergency – he knows how to care for the patient and knows how to take of himself physically and mentally. But even with all that experience, caring for COVID was both physically and emotionally draining.
“We see these people that we transfer to bigger medical facilities and we just wonder – how are they going to do?” saying he checks obituaries in the newspaper, holding his breath, hoping for the best.
Dr. Goecke said he’s treated COVID patients of all ages and the virus is unpredictable. The day of this interview, a COVID-positive teenager was struggling to breathe. Also, traditional emergency department care like heart attacks, car accidents, strokes and overdoses don’t stop during a pandemic.
BRINGS HIM HOPE
Goecke credits his JRMC family of fellow doctors, nurses, therapists and admissions staff to help in stressful situations. “We all have each other’s backs,” he said.
The vaccine brings him hope. As a healthcare worker on the frontline, he completed his second dose in January.
Dr. Goecke is known for his calm, caring and often quiet demeanor, said Registered Nurse Caitlin Striefel. Children needing emergency care often see his white beard and think he’s Santa Claus.
“He is comforting to patients,” she said. “He will often sit and hold their hands. Patients and their loved ones continue to bring him gifts because he treats everyone like family.”
Though he is usually upbeat, he’s stoic when referring to COVID.
“This has opened my eyes,” he said. “Seeing how bad it can be.”
Dr. Goecke said he’s considering retiring; though, he’s not ready yet. Who would be our Dr. Santa Claus?
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