'These children are innocent human beings': A children's hospital overwhelmed by COVID-19 surge
The youngest child in the intensive care unit is 8 weeks old.
The youngest child in the intensive care unit is 8 weeks old.
The youngest child in the intensive care unit is 8 weeks old.
COVID-19 continues to impact kids across Louisiana.
Devon Relle, a pediatric nurse practitioner, described what it's like right now inside Children's Hospital in New Orleans.
鈥淲e are full right now. We are at our capacity in the pediatric ICU,鈥� Relle said. 鈥淐ertainly tears are shed in our unit. We are working tirelessly here at Children's Hospital in the ICU. Certainly, we do have children in the ICU every day on a ventilator, dependent on us to help their lungs heal. It's tough to hold the hands of parents when their child is so ill. We just do what we can to help them."
Relle said her family is no stranger to being on the front lines of the pandemic. Her husband is a firefighter and a paramedic in Slidell, Louisiana. They have a son who is 6 months old.
"It's a huge challenge. Our child is six months old and luckily he's healthy. We want to keep him healthy," she said. "Right after I had him, I was vaccinated. That was calculated on purpose. I wanted to share the immunity with him and I believe the vaccine protected both me and him."
While many people are working to get the country out of the pandemic, Relle said the best hope is for people to get vaccinated.
She said she wants the public to think about the kids who can't protect themselves.
"These children are innocent human beings,鈥� Relle said. 鈥淭hey have families. Our nurses spend so much time with them getting to know all about them, their siblings, hobbies, what they like to do in school. It gets to you sometimes, that's why we support each other. We care for each other.鈥�
A spokesperson for the hospital said there are 12 kids at Children's Hospital fighting COVID-19. The youngest child in the intensive care unit is 8 weeks old.
