NYC Emergency Doctor talks about the Coronavirus Battle
DR. ROB GORE, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, SUNY DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER: I'm staying at an Airbnb. I've been here -- this is the third week staying in the same place and I'm probably going to be here for at least another four, maybe six weeks. Me and one of the other emergency department physicians both are trying to keep our families safe. There's so much we don't know about the disease process itself and the last thing we want to do is bring it home to our loved ones. As you know, many people aren't symptomatic carriers and we're around so many patients who are suspected as having coronavirus or Covid-19 or do have Covid-19 and the last thing we want to do is have our loved ones affected.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, I hope that sinks in for people out there, that you're willingly, you know, separating yourself from your family for up to six, eight weeks maybe so that you can do your job to save lives. You've been in disaster zones all over the world, including Haiti and other places. You say this is the culmination of all that work. How so?</s>GORE: I say the culmination because there's a level of intensity that happens when you're taking care of sick people. It's a whole different kind of intensity when everyone is fearful of the same kind of thing. And I think back to almost 10 years ago -- actually more than 10 years ago when that disaster</s>BERMAN: Hey, have you been using Hydroxychloroquine with your patients and how has it been working for you?</s>GORE: So I used it last night for the first time. It's been -- some of the internal medicine docs on the floors are starting to recommend that. But I -- it's too early for me to determine if there's going to be any major outcome with using it. Like with any drug, every time you use it, there can be some consequences. With Hydroxychloroquine, you can get nausea, vomiting, there can be issues with hair loss, also even cardiac dysrhythmias or abnormal heart rhythms.</s>BERMAN: So I do want to ask you one question. You were a CNN Hero in 2018 for the work you're doing to battle violence in your community. KAVI it's called. Kings Against Violence Initiative. Are you able to do that work at the same time? One of the things we're dealing with in this country is so many non-profits, wonderful causes, are being neglected now because of the need to focus exclusively on Covid-19. Can you do both at once?</s>GORE: So I have an incredible team that allows me to be able to do both of the work. One thing that we know, any kind of disaster situation brings up a lot of triggers and traumas. And even though we don't see the same rates of interpersonal violence right now, at least coming into the emergency departments, it doesn't mean that people still aren't suffering. A lot of people have PTSD, they have acute stress disorder, they've been hurting, they've been dealing with problems and tragedies and our KAVI team is still reaching out to them, both within our hospital- based program, and as well as our school-based initiatives.</s>BERMAN: Dr. Rob Gore, you prove again and again, you are a true hero. Thank you so much for the work you're doing and thanks for being with us.</s>GORE: Thank you for having me. Peace.</s>BERMAN: So British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hospitalized this morning as he battles coronavirus. The latest on his condition in a live report, next.