Marvin Nicklas is one of six respiratory therapists at the Victoria Hospital. (Submitted/Victoria Hospital Foundation)

By Alison Sandstrom

On the front lines

‘This virus has no rules:’ P.A. respiratory therapist talks about experience working in ICU during pandemic

Feb 17, 2021 | 5:01 PM

A respiratory therapist at the Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert says COVID-19 is unlike any disease he’s encountered over three decades of practice.

Marvin Nicklas, one of six respiratory therapists at the hospital, is profiled in a recent media release from the Victoria Hospital Foundation. In it, the 64-year-old specialist talks about the mental toll caring for critically ill patients takes, and how he and other staff put their own fears aside daily to do their jobs during the pandemic.

“This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. This virus has no rules and it scares the hell out of me,” Nicklas said in the release. “We cannot predict its path – you think it’s going in one direction, and then all of a sudden it goes another.”

While many believe the virus only poses serious risk to the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, Nicklas said he’s also had to intubate young, previously healthy adults during the pandemic.

Unprecedented need for ventilators

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At peak, during the surge in cases from November to January, Nicklas and other Victoria Hospital staff were caring for eight COVID-19 patients on ventilators in the ICU, plus many more with serious lung and breathing issues on other floors of the hospital.

Since then the Victoria Hospital Foundation told paNOW things have calmed down – but only slightly. As of Wednesday seventeen people with COVID-19 were hospitalized in Prince Albert, with two of those in the ICU, foundation chair Sherry Buckler said.

The number of people needing assistance to breath has been unprecedented during the pandemic.

“Our small hospital in Prince Albert has never seen so many ventilated patients at one time,” Nicklas said.

Attaching someone to the equipment that breathes for them “is never our first choice and almost always a sign that things are extremely serious,” he explained.

Research out of the United Kingdom indicates one in three COVID-19 patients put on a ventilator experience symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder.

“That’s because being on a ventilator is a terrible experience for most people,” Nicklas said. “And once on the ventilator, if things deteriorate, it can be heartbreaking for family and for the patient as there really is no way to say your goodbyes.”

Perseverance and service

Like many healthcare workers, Nicklas’ job has been physically and emotionally draining during the pandemic.

“Often you are so stretched for time you are simply in survival mode,” he said.

At 64, Nicklas said he worries about contracting the virus himself, but it doesn’t stop him from being at a patient’s bedside when they need him.

“[The fear] doesn’t stop me from going to work,” he said. “And I push it out of my mind the minute I walk in the hospital door.”

Interacting with colleagues, getting to know some of his patients and, most of all, seeing them survive and return home to their loved ones keeps him going.

As a healthcare worker, Nicklas recently received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and is looking forward to his second shot. In the meantime, he’ll continue providing critical care to those who need him.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom