SSHS graduate shares experience treating COVID-19 patients

BILLINGS, MONTANA - "We have more ICU patients than we have ICU beds available," Respiratory Therapist Michael Biggins said in an email. "This has led to converting offices, staff break rooms and closets into hospital rooms to accomodate for the surge. We have even had to double up two related COVID-19 patients to share one ICU room to save on resources."

Biggins, who was raised in Seeley Lake, has been a Respiratory Therapist at both major hospitals in Billings since 2012. He graduated from Seeley-Swan High School in 2007. His father was also a respiratory therapist and is what sparked his interest in the medical field. He moved to Billings after graduating from the University of Montana with a degree in Respiratory Therapy.

Biggins' job at the hospital is to work with respiratory illness patients throughout their stay including giving them breathing treatments and managing their ventilators. He works in all critical care areas including the emergency department, neonatal intensive care unit and the adult intensive care unit.

In 2017 he became a flight respiratory therapist. In this role he flies to smaller medical centers and transports patients who require a higher level of care than what the sending facility is capable of providing. He is responsible for placing breathing tubes, hooking up patients to ventilators and overall transporting adults and infants safely to the receiving hospital. Generally patients are taken to Billings, but if the patient needs more service, then he will take them to Denver, Salt Lake City or Seattle.

Biggins said COVID-19 was initially thought to mostly attack the lungs. However, medical experts have recently seen the virus also causes various other problems including micro blood clots which can lead to heart attacks, blood clots in the lungs, strokes and "major" kidney damage.

"One of the major problems we encounter with COVID patients from a respiratory standpoint is their blood oxygen level can become incredibly low due to severe inflammation that occurs in the lungs," he said. "Low oxygen levels can lead to organs not receiving enough oxygen and potentially going into failure and even death. Typically patients need to be placed on a ventilator once the body has tired out and cannot effectively breathe on its own."

From his experience, only 20-30% of patients survive after being put on a ventilator.

"I have withdrawn life support (pulled the breathing tube) from patients while their families cry their goodbyes on a video feed," Biggins said. "I have done CPR for 40 minutes on an otherwise healthy 45 year old mother who didn't make it. On multiple occasions, I have been involved in placing a COVID-19 patient on a ventilator, only to wonder if I am among the last people to have a conversation with the patient, as many times the patient does not come off the ventilator."

According to Biggins, long-term effects from COVID have not been fully understood yet, but the longer someone has been admitted in the hospital, the longer their recovery will take.

"There is a fear that because of the severe inflammation in the lungs, scar tissue may develop in the lungs, which will lead to even greater difficulty getting oxygen into the bloodstream," he said. "Experts suggest as the immune system fights the virus, it can also inadvertently attack healthy organs, resulting in some lingering symptoms including: post viral fatigue, foggy feeling, muscle tremors, loss of taste and smell."

He said the "hallmark treatments" being given by registered nurses are convalescent plasma, dexamethasone and remdesivier. However he gives bronchodilators like albuterol or duoneb to mitigate shortness of breath, wheezing and tightness in the chest.

As of last week over 150 hospital staff members have been out on quarantine. This has resulted in the National Guard and other agencies deploying medical workers to provide assistance.

"Recently, I flew a patient from Billings to Seattle simply because there were no ICU beds, and not enough medical staff left in Montana," he said. "What a lot of the public doesn't understand is that just because you can create an ICU room that doesn't mean you have the appropriate staff to care for the patient."

Normally Biggins would work 12 hour shifts, but recently shifts surpassing 16 hours has become normal for him.

"It has been physically, emotionally and mentally draining," he said. "COVID-19 patients in the ICU setting have been the most critically ill patients I have ever taken care of and sadly they cannot have visitors due to the risk of exposure. Once someone is on a ventilator and has a breathing tube in place, they cannot talk as the breathing tube is inserted between their vocal cords."

He said he understands that the pandemic has been a difficult situation to deal with, but he pleads with people to "follow science" and wear a mask, wash hands and stay socially distant.

"This will be over sooner if we all do our part and remain compliant," Biggins said. "Remember, COVID-19 may not be a big deal to some, it might just be the sniffles. But to those who have lost both parents in the span of 30 days, it is a huge deal. So treat others with respect. It is not only the elderly who get very sick from COVID, this virus does not discriminate."