Denver Emergency Physician On Coronavirus: 'Chasing Our Tails Trying To Catch Up'

DENVER (CBS4) - Dr. Nick Brandehoff had just come off a week of duty in a northern Colorado emergency room when he told CBS4 about his hospital's patients.

"Some are incredibly sick and are likely to die. That's just the reality of what we are facing at the moment."

Brandehoff, 36, is an emergency physician and a medical toxicologist. He shared an ominous observation during the half hour interview.

"We see a lot of death in emergency medicine, and we're used to it. I don't think we're prepared for how much we're going to have to deal with in the next few months."

The M.D. just moved his family to Denver in January. He had no idea of the coronavirus maelstrom he would soon be facing.

"It's everywhere," he said. "We're seeing people of all ages come in with similar symptoms."

He went on to say that the ICU at his facility was completely full, and overflow patients were being sent to other hospitals with available ICU beds. He said people showing up at the hospital with coronavirus symptoms who were presumed positive were being sent home without being tested.

"We just don't have access to any tests that I know of. I'm affiliated with 11 hospitals in Colorado and none of us are testing outpatients at the moment. We're chasing our tails trying to catch up," he said.

Asked if he was scared, Brandehoff responded "Yeah, very much so." He said he and other emergency room doctors are coming to terms with the "high likelihood" that at some point they will all contract coronavirus.

"I'm worried about it. We're all expecting to get it."

Brandehoff has practiced medicine in Africa and said in those countries the population knows medical care, supplies and facilities are poor. But the doctor said Americans expect more from the U.S. medical system.

Brandehoff said he believes coronavirus will bring about a "cultural shift," as doctors have to make life and death decisions like who gets a ventilator and who does not.

"It may take a lot of Americans getting sick for Americans to realize this is a very serious process." He said for anyone who thinks the pandemic is exaggerated, "They're welcome to join me on shift without any PPE (personal protective equipment) and tell me how much of a hoax this is."

"It's not a hoax."

Asked how the public could support him and other front line health care workers, Brandehoff said the following.

"If you're going to give us a fighting chance to help save your family members, we need you guys to do your part to help us. Hunker down. Stay home. I know it sucks, but stay home and isolate yourself. Minimize contact with the outside world. Spread it out. It gives us a fighting chance."

RELATED: Latest Updates On The Coronavirus Outbreak In Colorado