I am an RN at Auburn Multicare Medical Center.

Recently I responded to a code in the ICU for a previously healthy young person who was admitted awhile ago with COVID.

I know it was awhile ago because they were already in the ICU.

People who need to go to the ICU have to wait a day or two in the Emergency Room first because there is no room for them in the ICU and even then, it’s often not enough. All the oxygen, all the treatments, all the repositioning isn’t enough to beat this virus’s unrelenting attack on the lungs.

I also gave three vaccines in the ER over the weekend. The vaccines have been available for a while, but just recently a few people have accepted.

We know what it takes to beat this virus — vaccines, masks, social distancing.

If you have any questions, please reach out — talk to your family doctor, a nurse or EMT you know. Ask how this virus is affecting the unvaccinated.

We are all getting tired.

Tami Mudd, AHS Class of 1998

Maple Valley