Australian heroes on the COVID frontline in the United States
Hundreds of expat Australians are helping America battle the coronavirus pandemic. While they love their jobs, they concede it’s a “very scary world” we are living in right now, where the threat is always there.
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Hundreds of expat Australians are helping America battle through one of the greatest crises in its history, serving on the frontline to treat, feed, protect and even bless the COVID-battered citizens of their adopted country.
As the US death toll climbs towards 100,000, Australians are doing in the US what heroes of both countries have been doing since World War II – looking out for the lives and welfare of their greatest ally.
Working on the medical frontline in virus-devastated New York City is interventional neurologist Dr Thomas Oxley, 39, from Melbourne.
He was called in to run an intensive care unit in one of America’s biggest teaching hospitals, Mount Sinai in Manhattan, where he’d been working part-time in the neurology unit while running his own company, Synchron, which is developing a computer brain to assist paralysed people.
He admits it has been a harrowing time to be in New York, especially as a frontline healthcare provider having to watch patients die alone.
“We have all had to step into unfamiliar roles,” he said. “The thing that is really different is that really sick patients are alone.
“When we have to talk to family, usually if you have a sick family member, you’re in there right next to them, holding their hand in hospital. With COVID, no one is allowed in the hospital so really sick people are dying alone and that’s been one of the most heartbreaking things.
“I had a family meeting with 11 people on Zoom, they were crying as I delivered very bad news because they can’t be with their loved ones. Whether they have COVID or not, if you are sick in hospital in NY right now, your loved ones can’t be with you.
“They are on their own.”
Dr Oxley, who returned to work after recovering from the virus himself, said he is proud of Australia’s effort in combating COVID – but he also defended America’s record in handling the crisis, pointing out its mortality rate is much better than many European countries with universal healthcare.
“Australia are literally the world champions. I just think the way Australia has struck that balance between telling people what to do and having the modern approach to fixing it, and having everyone fall in line, it has made me very proud to be an Australian.
“I think America has done a pretty good job – of course it could have been better, but all things considered, you would have thought that compared to some of the countries in Europe which have universal health care, that they would have done much better than America. But they haven’t.”
Las Vegas pilot Andrew Norris from Sydney’s northern beaches flies Boeing 777s around the world to bring much needed personal protective equipment (PPE) to the US – where nurses were wearing garbage bags because of a shortage.
“I fly for Atlas Air which is a public freight company that flies cargo in heavy aircraft and military charters. We are constantly heavy out of Hong Kong bringing in PPE into the US,” he said.
“We were initially operating in and out of CDC hot areas but now the US has become the epicentre we no longer do layovers in JFK and operate with additional crew in order to just stop and go so we are not potentially exposed. We have safety measures to prevent being exposed to the virus and are limited as to our activities on layovers.
“It feels great knowing that I along with many others are assisting in getting healthcare workers the essential equipment they need to make a difference.”
Also from NSW is Mike Floyd of Huron, Ohio, a Priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio who was originally from Appin.
After travelling the globe for more than 30 years with a Christian-based theatre group called the Covenant Players, he was ordained in 2014 after surviving a bout with cancer that helped him realise what was most important to him.
He ministers a parish of about 50 mostly older worshippers and lives with his wife, New Zealander Fiona.
“I guess it appeals to my Australian sense of humour that Scripture says to go to the farthest corners of the earth and here I am in Huron, Ohio,” Fr Floyd says. “There is no doubt in my mind that the people of the US need Jesus more than ever.
“I do miss Australia, every time I hear I Still Call Australia Home I tear up. But my sense is that I am supposed to be here now. There is a spiritual underpinning to that so I would probably call it a conviction.
“This crisis has given me a sense of purpose and reason for being here right now.”
Paula Funkhouser from Melbourne – now living in Tampa Florida – is one of many Aussies working on the frontline here who is basically trapped in the US and unable to get home to visit family.
“I’m supposed to be in Queensland right now visiting my 89-year-old father, and then Mt Eliza, Victoria, visiting my children,” she said.
“But I’m a Registered Nurse delivering babies right here in the USA. Every day has been a change in what we’re supposed to wear for PPE!”
Queenslander Gina Kuest, from the Sunshine Coast and now living in Northern California, is a former nurse who has taken to making masks and protective caps for her former colleagues.
“I’ve been sewing hats and masks non stop, I’ve got the entire ER department in our small town of Northern California all wearing my hats,” she said.
“I’ve sewn about 85 hats and 132 masks.
“It has made me feel like I have a purpose when sitting at home. Otherwise my mind gets all wrapped up in the ‘what ifs’ and I scare myself! All the thank yous from the healthcare workers also makes me see how scary their situation is right now and maybe it lets them all know someone somewhere cares.”
Suzie Cosser from South Australia is a healthcare insurance broker based in Seattle who works with native tribes and small firms advising them as they close down and lay off staff.
“We’re seeing many companies shutting down completely or laying off a ton of employees, which is very, very hard. We’ve had some of these clients a really long time and taking calls from their employees in tears asking for help is really awful,” Ms Cosser said.
“It is satisfying to be trying to help these poor people through all of this where we can.”
Registered nurse Amanda Hindle from Adelaide has worked in Baltimore for 17 years, working in a neonatal intensive care unit.
“I love my job, but it’s a very scary world currently. The threat is always there as any minute we may be called into the delivery room or the operating room and mum be COVID-19 positive, then it’s a full dive into frontline – meaning full garb in a life or death moment for baby and or mum, then it’s in our neonatal intensive care unit – but we’ve managed and worked hard to keep it out so far.”
Originally published as Australian heroes on the COVID frontline in the United States
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