ICU doctor preaches positivity in the face of COVID-19

Like health-care professionalsacross the city, Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremantengis bracing for the coming wave of what he calls "the sickest of the sick" COVID-19 patients who will needventilators to stay alive.

But Kyeremanteng said he and his colleagues on the front line of the pandemic are ready to face what's coming.

"This is a challenge, and it's going to get busy. That's OK," Kyeremantengsaid. "This is exactly what you train for."

We should have some confidence that we can handle this. We have excellent public health. We can overcome this.- Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng

Kyeremanteng, 42, is an intensive care and palliative care physician at the Ottawa and Montforthospitals. He's also a scientist with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Montfort's Institut du savoir. Last fall, he started a podcast called Solving Healthcare.

Kyeremantengisn't downplaying the gravity of the situation, including the danger to himself he acknowledges the ICU is "one of the highest-risk scenarios" for acquiring COVID-19.

"To be completely honest with you, there's an underlying level of anxiety. I've got three young kids. I've got a lovely wife. I've got a grandma staying with us right now, and a live-in nanny who's on dialysis. The last thing I want to do is bring this home."

And yet he's keenly aware that's what he might do. "It's possible that I'll acquire COVID-19. It's possible our family will acquire [it].... But this is the time when we have to step up."

Kyeremanteng uses words such as "faith"and "trust" when he's describing the preparations.

"We should have some confidence that we can handle this. We have excellent public health. We can overcome this. We can manage this. As long as we're listening to our public health authorities, doing the social and physical isolation, we can do this."

He thinks it's wrong for Ottawans to worry about becoming another Northern Italy or New York City.

"I don't think this is us. We are in Canada. We have prepared and learned from past pandemics. SARS, H1N1. Their situation is different. Their system is being overrun."

That's not the case here, he believes, "because of all the measures we've placed and the fact that people out there are listening. They are doing physical isolation. It's making a difference."

Kyeremantengbelieves it's critical that health-care workers especially not give in to anxiety.

"When there are such high stakes? If you are stressed and not thinking about what's in front of you, you're not at your best," he said.

"You can get caught up with, 'What if this happens?' or, 'What if that happens?' But I tell you, from a guy that makes a living being able to focus in the present and dealing with what's in front of you, there's not much value.... You control what you can control and just hope for the best."

Kyeremantengnot only preaches positivity, he follows it up with action. Last week, he helped launcha GoFundMecampaign toprovide food to front-line hospital staff during their shift. He draws a direct link between good morale and better outcomes.

"Believing that we can overcome thisit's a mindset that I feel only enhances productivity and performance."

• More local stories of positivity in the face of COVID-19

At the same time, Kyeremanteng is calling on health-care workers to practise self-care with the same diligence they apply to handwashing and other protective measures.

"To be able to stay healthy, you can't be overwhelmed with stress. You can't. You need to be sleeping well. You need to be eating well. You need to be hydrated. Being overwhelmed with anxiety is not going to serve you well. I recommend people limit the amount of social media or media that you're exposing yourself to, because it can be depressing."

• COVID-19 and social media: Limit the spread of fear

He walks the walk, too, with help from his research team, his podcast partnersand his spouse, Dr. CatherineKyeremanteng, a clinical psychologist and mother of their three kids, ages seven, five and one and a half.

"I'm very blessed that I have a wife who is extremely helpful and encouraging and present with the kids and protective of me,"Kyeremantengsaid.

"Instead of calling me and raising my stress levels, she'll just deal with it. When our middle son broke his finger, she just dealt with it and told me later," he said.

"I try to keep it light. We laugh. We will cry when it is appropriate, but I will make sure everyone is smiling by the end at the end of the day."

Being overwhelmed with anxiety is not going to serve you well, ICU doctor says

5 years ago

Duration 1:35

Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, an intensive care physician, says following public health guidelines, avoiding social media, and avoiding worry over what-if scenarios is a good way to stay physically and mentally healthy during the pandemic.