By Melissa Ramirez Cooper
Director, AANA Public Relations & Communications

Samantha Heavrin, CRNA, MBA, was among one of the first to arrive in New York City to serve on the COVID-19 pandemic’s frontline of care. Assigned to work at The Mount Sinai Hospital on Madison Avenue, Heavrin had three “identities” for her computer sign-in: nurse, advanced practice nurse practitioner, and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA).

“Later in my deployment, I was also given a fourth identity as respiratory therapist,” said Heavrin, a member of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) who is chief of anesthesia at an ambulatory surgery center in Louisville, Ky. Through her contract with AMSURG, Heavrin was part of about 200 Envision clinicians who deployed to the greater New York City area to provide care.

“At Mount Sinai, we did whatever was needed, and that was true for all healthcare workers across New York City,” she said. “Whether it was changing drips, running labs, getting materials, or turning a patient, all of us worked outside of our traditional roles.”

Heavrin said her entire anesthesia team took on multiple responsibilities. “There was so much to be done to care for patients impacted by COVID-19,” she said. “We also served on ‘proning’ teams, which is a process of turning patients onto their stomachs so they can take in oxygen better. It can be a difficult process to have intubated patients move onto their stomach, but it made a huge different for patients to oxygenate, and our proning teams were great.”

Throughout the pandemic, tens of thousands of CRNAs like Heavrin were readily available to serve. CRNAs are expert clinicians with advanced specialized skills in airway management, ventilator support, vascular volume resuscitation, and advanced patient assessment. Because of their diverse and unique skillset, CRNAs have been utilized as advanced care providers and regarded as vital members of the nation’s critical care workforce. During the COVID public health crisis federal and state governors have temporarily removed barriers to CRNA practice, enabling them to practice to the fullest extent of their education and training.

Alongside her colleagues at the hospital, Heavrin had friends deployed in other parts of the city. “One of my nurse practitioner friends worked in tents set up in Central Park. When we looked out the window, we could see these MASH-type units set up by the military to triage patients.”

Heavrin is thankful to her employer for the support services extended to clinicians, which included, among many things, traveling logistics, supplies of personal protective equipment, and mental health and wellness resources.

“When we left New York, we had to go into quarantine for two weeks. We were encouraged to do video calls and talk about our experiences with our clinician peers. We were also provided resources and information. It was during quarantine when we really processed our experience, talked and cried.”

Since returning home to Kentucky, Heavrin and her friends journaled about their time in New York and wrote a book chronicling their experiences.

By Melissa Ramirez Cooper
Director, AANA Public Relations & Communications

When Jeremy Carlisle, CRNA, flew from Springfield, Ore., to New York City, he was struck by how few people were on his flight. “Maybe there were 15 of us on a 200-seat airplane.” Carlisle, a member of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA), was on his way to serve on the COVID-19 frontlines of care.

With elective surgeries on hold, Carlisle was one among many Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) in the Portland area without patients. Still credentialed with AMSURG, a division of the national medical group Envision Healthcare, Carlisle received an opportunity to work in New York. Within three days of that call, he was en route to New York’s Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital, located in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

When Carlisle arrived, the hospital was determining the roles of each healthcare provider tending to patients impacted by the virus. “Given my experience in anesthesia and critical care, I was able to help provide care in the ICU.”

Since the start of the pandemic, tens of thousands of CRNAs have cared for critically ill patients. Their unique skills and expertise have allowed them to step forward in ways essential to addressing the virus that few others can, particularly in advanced airway and ventilation management, vascular volume resuscitation, and advanced patient assessment. During state emergencies, federal and state governors temporarily removed barriers to CRNA practice, further reinforcing the need to utilize CRNAs at the full extent of their education and training.

“When I first arrived, New York was experiencing some of its worst weeks statistically with the number of admissions and deaths,” said Carlisle. “Almost all of the patients at Beth Israel were COVID-19 patients.”

While healthcare teams were working relentlessly, “doing everything possible to care for patients,” said Carlisle. For him, the hardest part was “that patients didn’t have their family members to visit them or be with them at their bedside. We set up video calls and made other connections for patients and families.”

“I was in the military, and the situation in New York was somewhat like going off to war. It was going to the battlefield and wondering if you were going to come back,” said Carlisle. “The scale and intensity of the situation was different and unlike anything I had experienced,” he said.

“I asked God every day to help me, my family and my patients.”

“One story that continues to stay with me was a patient and her granddaughter, with whom I built a friendship. The granddaughter shared with me how grateful she was for the care we provided her grandmother,” recounts Carlisle.

“On one of the last days before I left, the granddaughter came to me and [offered to buy me] breakfast. I told her that it wasn’t necessary, but she told me to go have breakfast and to think about her and her family. I will never forget that. I will never forget the love she had for her loved ones.”