Christian
Early in the pandemic, little was known to the public about COVID-19, except that it was a respiratory illness, often attacking the lungs and ultimately making it impossible for patients to breathe. New Mexico, like so many states, was short of healthcare professionals – and those doctors, nurses and other front-line workers spent days and nights helping patients as they overwhelmed hospitals’ capacities.
Christian was born in Mexico City and moved to Albuquerque from Atlanta over five years ago to pursue a degree in respiratory therapy from Central New Mexico Community College and Santa Fe Community College. Having gotten his degree as COVID spread quickly throughout the state, Christian was unable to work as a respiratory therapist because he could not get his professional license. He began working with community organizations to advocate for the passage of Senate Bill 137, which would allow for undocumented people to work as teachers, dental hygienists, doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and other professions.
When the bill passed in early 2021, Christian immediately began working as a respiratory therapist in Farmington. Today, he works with long-term care patients at Kindred Hospital in Albuquerque.
This is his story, in his own words.
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When COVID had just started, I already had my degree [in respiratory therapy] but I didn’t have my license. I was working in a restaurant, and in March or April, the restaurant had to shut down. I was freaking out because that was the only job I had, and I lost it because the restaurant closed. It was horrible because I had to find any type of job to pay my bills. But I also knew there was this new respiratory disease happening, which made it even worse because I knew I could help.
That’s when I started working with New Mexico Immigrant Law Center and New Mexico Dream Team. They were working towards a bill that could give undocumented people professional licenses. They started talking to me about that, and I was really excited because I couldn’t work for a whole year after I graduated because I didn’t have a license yet.
When the bill passed, I was able to I was able to get my license and I started working immediately. Everyone started sending me messages. I went on the internet to see what the requirements were to get my license and get the ball moving. I really needed to work and I knew people needed respiratory therapists. That’s what I did the first minute I found out that the bill had passed. The next day, I sent in my application to get my license.
I went to work right away wherever people needed me the most. I went to a travel [health] agency, and they sent me to Farmington to work at the hospital there. I left the next week and was there for two months. They were really short-staffed and getting a lot of patients, especially from the reservations.
I knew it was going to be tough because they were 12 hour overnight shifts for four nights straight. But, I was waiting for this and it’s what I was getting ready for in school. It was a sour experience – I was finally doing what I loved the most, but I was also living through tough times with these people and their community. I had been to Farmington before and it was beautiful. This time, it was nothing like I had seen before – everything was shut down. It was getting hit pretty hard. We had no more rooms in the hospital; we had patients in the hallways. We didn’t have enough PPE.
As a respiratory therapist, we make sure people get enough oxygen in any way necessary. We start with the cannulas, then we go to the mask and then the ventilators. It’s hard to see that situation – when patients get to that point, ‘cause you feel helpless. There’s not much we can do then and medicine can only do so much. Most of the times, the patients could go back to normal, but it takes a long time. And sometimes they don’t. They get disabilities and sometimes the worst-case scenario happens.
What kept me going was to see those people getting better. I made a difference, I think. I hope. I had to stay strong because we were the ones people needed. During those times, families couldn’t visit the hospital. So, to patients, we were the only people they had contact with. To me, that was a job I had to do. Besides being the healthcare worker, I had to be some sort of support and cheer them on to keep going. If I showed up to work with no energy or no spirit, the patients would notice and they wouldn’t fight back against the disease.
There’s no way to describe the experience. It made me a better person – a better professional. What patients went through was just… and for them to go back to their lives after that. To me, it means that everything is possible in this life.
