‘Like I’m A Walking Disease’: Health Care Workers’ Mental Health During The Pandemic

Caleb DeLong, seen here with and wife, Melissa, and their daughters, is an EMT at Piedmont Hospital. While, he says, he appreciates the support healthcare workers are getting from their communities, the job is taking it’s toll as the coronavirus pandemic persists.

Courtesy of Caleb DeLong

Health care workers are under incredible pressure, as COVID-19 cases increase. They’re risking their own health and lives to help others. And that can exact a toll on mental health, too.

“One day we’re just talking about this spreading from Wuhan and slowly into Washington, and then within a week we’re getting our own cases, and just scrambling to understand how we need to protect ourselves,” says Caleb DeLong, an EMT at Piedmont Hospital.

“It’s like watching a huge storm come your way. Not knowing what it’s fully going to bring in terms of intensity, know you know it’s coming,” he says. “It feels like we are on the edge.”