ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A critical care physician in St. Louis simulated what it’s like to be a coronavirus patient in his ICU in attempt to urge people to wear face coverings.
Dr. Kenneth Remy tweeted a video of the simulation last Saturday and it has since gone viral. It has garnered over 2,000 retweets as of Friday and been picked up by major news outlets.
“I hope that the last moments of your life don't look like this,” Remy said in his video. “Because this is what you'll see at the end of your life, if we don't start wearing masks when we're out in public, when we don't practice social distancing.”
Please listen as this is dire. I don’t want to be the last person that looks in your frightened eyes. #MaskUp @DrKenRemy1 @WUSTLmed pic.twitter.com/qwb4eERlfE
— Kenneth E. Remy, MD, MHSc, FCCM (@DrKenRemy1) November 21, 2020
In the clip, Remy told KSDK that he was simulating what it would be like for a patient’s oxygen levels to drop dangerously low and have a breathing tube be put in.
“I beg you, please practice the precautions to reduce transmission of COVID disease, so that we can effectively prevent disease for you and your loved ones,” Remy continued in his video.
In an interview with CNN, Remy said he hopes the nation can get to a place where everyone realizes that it’s more comfortable to wear a piece of cloth on your face than it is to be intubated in the hospital.
“I don't want that, I don't want to see that anymore and have to make those phone calls to the frequency that we're currently doing," he told CNN.
Along with being a doctor, Remy is also a city councilman in Wildwood, Missouri, so he’s familiar with how wearing a mask has been politicized. He told KSDK that while he understands the importance of personal liberties, he’s tired of patients becoming infected because people refuse to wear face coverings.
Click here for CDC guidelines on how to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.