An ER doctor details life on the COVID-19 front lines

+ should all power lines be buried underground? US Edition - Today's top story: At my hospital, over 95% of COVID-19 patients share one thing in common: They’re unvaccinated [View in browser]( US Edition | 4 September 2021 [The Conversation]( It’s hard enough dealing with the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic as someone outside of the health care profession. I often think about what hospital workers have been going through for the past 18 months and the collective toll that caring for very sick patients must have on them. This week, Nicholas Johnson, an ER doctor at the University of Washington’s medical school, offered a [glimpse of what it’s like on the front lines of the pandemic]( now. More than a year after his first dispatch for us, he described how heartbreaking it is when critically ill patients ask to be vaccinated too late. He details a health care system stretched thin, staffed by exhausted hospital workers who are doing their best for everyone who needs them. His personal and professional take: Get vaccinated while you still can. It may just save your life. This week we also liked articles about [dance and movement therapy](, the [opioid settlement reached with Purdue Pharma and its owners]( and the [collective trauma]( brought about by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Michelle McAdams University Relationship Manager + Internship Manager Many hospitals have reached a point where the demand for health care has outstripped the ability to provide it. Westend61 via Getty Images [At my hospital, over 95% of COVID-19 patients share one thing in common: They’re unvaccinated]( Nicholas Johnson, University of Washington Although stretched thin and imperfect, health care workers do our best for everyone who needs us, regardless of the personal choices people have made. Outages left downtown New Orleans in the dark after Hurricane Ida made landfall on Aug. 29, 2021. Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images [Can burying power lines protect storm-wracked electric grids? Not always]( Theodore J. Kury, University of Florida Hurricane Ida left the entire city of New Orleans in the dark and renewed discussion of burying power lines. But there’s no way to completely protect the grid, above ground or below. The $600 federal jobless benefit expired on July 31. Joe Raedle/Getty Images [Yes, most workers can collect more in coronavirus unemployment than they earn – but that doesn’t mean Congress should cut the $600 supplement]( David Salkever, University of Maryland, Baltimore County The $600 federal jobless benefit may be generous, but that doesn’t mean is isn’t what workers and the US economy need. - [At the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, ancient Greece and Rome can tell us a lot about the links between collective trauma and going to war]( Joel Christensen, Brandeis University Ancient Athenians and Romans also let shared mass tragedies propel justifications for going to war – even when it wasn’t clear what that violence would solve. - [How the Purdue opioid settlement could help the public understand the roots of the drug crisis]( Antoine Lentacker, University of California, Riverside The multibillion-dollar settlement will trigger the release of troves of documents that may shine new light on what caused the opioid crisis. - [Dance and movement therapy holds promise for treating anxiety and depression, as well as deeper psychological wounds]( Lana Ruvolo Grasser, Wayne State University The COVID-19 pandemic and a growing global refugee crisis have shone a light on the ever-increasing need for new approaches to mental health treatment. - [Breathing wildfire smoke can affect the brain and sperm, as well as the lungs]( - [5 reasons video games should be more widely used in school]( - [When human life begins is a question of politics – not biology]( - [What are the Jewish High Holy Days? A look at Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and a month of celebrating renewal and moral responsibility]( - [Bilingual people with language loss due to stroke can pose a treatment challenge – computational modeling may help clinicians treat them]( - [‘Work with hope’ – a poet and classics scholar on facing the flood of bad news]( - [Afghanistan has vast mineral wealth but faces steep challenges to tap it]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](