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St. Vincent Healthcare RN to aid in NYC COVID-19 fight

Posted at 6:32 AM, Apr 06, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-06 16:11:59-04

BILLINGS - Sarah Shields will board a plane Monday morning bound for New York.

The current St Vincent RN is a traveling nurse who has been called to offer help.

"The virus is spreading very rapidly, it's exhausting all the resources, medical supplies, medical professionals," Shields said.

She expects to be put to work within 12 hours of landing.

"Unfortunately a lot of medical professionals are getting sick, and then unfortunately are unable to offer care, getting emotionally and mentally drained, so there's quite a few of us that are flying in to try to offer up help as much as we can," Shields said.

She doesn't know many details right now, but anticipates being in the city for around three weeks.

"I've worked in crisis situations, like hurricanes and stuff, and you get in the zone, almost, where you're doing what you do, but the mental and emotional exhaustion is something that's almost unbearable, and there's really no proper way to take care of that, nor is there time, it's not time to be scared, it's time to kick it in gear and do what we do," Shields said.