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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Lifestyle
Yoojin Na

My life as an ER doctor during Covid: ‘People walk in, throw their garbage at you, and walk out’

‘Would the officer have been so nonchalant if the same man had threatened to terrorize a school or an airport? Why should our lives matter less?’
‘Would the officer have been so nonchalant if the same man had threatened to terrorize a school or an airport? Why should our lives matter less?’ Illustration: Jorge Cuadal Calle/The Guardian

When I walked into work last October, the ER was in its usual state of organized chaos, with EMTs lined up in the ambulance bay and patients already crowding the hallways.

Not long after I sat down at my desk, I heard a commotion. I turned my head towards the noise and caught a glance of a youngish, medium-statured man. He was yelling obscenities and dragging his feet as security guards led him to the exit.

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