Hospital staff stay on duty as winter storm strains North Texas
As ice and bitter cold grip North Texas, hospital workers are staying clocked in around the clock—providing life-saving care that can't pause for weather, from ventilators in the ICU to treating serious cold-related injuries like frostbite.
In the middle of a winter storm, Gio Delgadillo is still clocked in. He's part of Medical City Plano's respiratory team. The unit is often among the first to arrive and the last to leave during severe weather.
"It's critical because we're a part of these patients' lives," he said. "From the moment they're born in deliveries, a respiratory therapist has to be there when a baby is delivered. If they have to go to NICU, we're there. Adult patients who go to ICU. End-of-life care, we're also there."
Respiratory therapists manage ventilators and critical breathing support, care that cannot pause for weather.
"All of our stuff is all backed up to generators," he said. "Our patients are on life-dependent machines, so those machines cannot lose power."
At Medical City Plano, hospital staff say storm duty also means treating weather-related injuries. Frostbite is always a big concern in freezing temperatures.
"Most of the patients that we get with frostbite are homeless, and then after that, people who spend a lot of time outdoors, who are not used to the cold weather," Medical City Plano Burn & Reconstructive Center's Dr. James Cross said.
Cross said frostbite develops in stages. You often get numbness and tingling, your hands lose function, and then the initial cold spot will turn into frostbite, which is tissue damage.
"They can be out for an hour or so shoveling the snow or doing something, and it's not until several hours later, until they notice the discoloration worsening, and then over a few hours you start to get blistering," he said.
In these cases, doctors say you should always seek medical attention. With another icy day expected on Tuesday, many medical professionals are preparing to spend another night here at the hospital.
"I'm staying here, there's a big room they set up, they put the beds out," Delgadillo said.
For Delgadillo, this isn't just a job, it's a calling.
"My mom is actually a respiratory therapist, as well, and my dad," he said. "My dad actually works here. Everyone loves where they work."
He's glad to be here when North Texas needs him most.
