A reflection on COVID, not of families grieving or people in danger, simply the emotional toll of an increased number of people dying.

There is no way to capture what it is like to feel someone go from warm to cold. There are no words to describe what it is like when the electricity rushes from a person’s body and everything within them falls still and silent. Even photos, which can capture pain, cannot capture the sensation you have when someone dies in your hands. The realization that they will not blink or speak again sits heavily. The knowledge that their burdens and joys have been left with us, the living, is conflicting.

CPR trainings, nursing school, and medical school try to prepare those of us destined to forge a career in healthcare for the days our patients die. But trainings over plastic mannequins and long-winded discussions over patient scenarios or tear-jerking stories can not prepare you for the moment a soul evaporates.

While not all who work in healthcare see people die, many do. It is part of the job. Most of us know that before we decide to enter the field. Those of us in healthcare put up emotional walls. We become used to knowing people will die. We can see suffering, guess the ending, and then leave the witnessed outcome at the job. But, no matter how strong healthcare workers become, there are times when the emptiness of a cold hand stays with us long after our workday ends.

Some of the best advice I was given when I first started working in the emergency department (ED) was to know where the empty spaces are in the hospital. At the time, I worked nights. This meant that my empty place was the waiting room for radiology because it was open and only used during the day. It was one of the few places I could go in the hospital that was unlocked and had corners hidden from the security cameras and the hallway. Over the years I worked in the ED, I would sit alone in the dark radiology waiting room on several occasions. I’d sit there only for a few minutes before returning to the floor to help the next patient.

As my career in healthcare unfolds, I’ve learned to stop and remain still when one of my colleagues tells me they lost a patient that day. Sometimes they will want to talk through what happened but, more often, they just want to sit with me and reflect silently. There are no words to describe what it’s like to be involved in someone’s death, even if your role was trying to prevent it. And, sometimes, there are no thoughts to describe it either. But, those of us in medicine know that death is part of life. And while the stories of some people linger long after they pass, we’re still glad to have been there to help them through the last stage of their life.