Bryan Health officials on Friday shared a little bit of insight into the use of ventilators for COVID-19 patients.
As of Friday, Bryan had five patients in its hospitals with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 13 patients with suspected cases who are awaiting test results.
Of those patients, two are on ventilators. One has been on a ventilator for eight days and another for five days, said Jason Rathbun, a respiratory therapist.
He said both patients are continuing to improve.
Bryan had reported four people on ventilators as of Wednesday. Rathbun said the other two patients tested negative for the disease and were off of ventilators after a couple of days.
Because of medical privacy laws, Bryan declined to provide any other information about the patients.
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The two COVID-19 patients on ventilators at Bryan appear to be the only ones in Lincoln.
A CHI Health spokeswoman on Thursday said there were no COVID-19 patients on ventilators at St. Elizabeth.
Bryan on Thursday said it had increased its ventilator capacity from 138 to 161. The hospital has two types of machines: traditional ventilators and non-invasive ventilators called bilevel positive airway pressure, or BiPAP, machines.
The BiPAP machines deliver oxygen through a mask, but they have software that can be reprogrammed to allow them to be used as invasive ventilators. If there is a surge of patients needing ventilation, Bryan staff can convert the machines to ventilators.
Holly Krieger, another Bryan respiratory therapist, said that treating patients on traditional invasive ventilators is challenging.
Because medical personnel have to wear full protective gear, it's hard to make a personal connection with the patients, who also are sedated and on pain medication much of the time.
Krieger said medical personnel have to do things such as make direct eye contact, smile and hold the patients' hands.
"Your body language toward them is key," she said.
CHI St. Elizabeth also on Friday gave a glimpse of what it's like working with seriously ill COVID-19 patients.
The hospital offered interview footage with two ICU nurses to media outlets.
Mary Guenther, who has been a nurse for less than a year, called it "challenging" and "rough."
"I'm gonna be honest, it's not like it's been normal in any way," she said.
Still, she called it a great learning experience and said she's honored to work with the patients and be a liaison with their families, who are not allowed to visit.
Ally Mahler, another ICU nurse at St. Elizabeth, said patients not being able to see their families is one of the hardest parts of her job.
"I can't imagine what they're going through, not being able to be with their loved ones during their most vulnerable time," she said.
So far, Lincoln has had fewer cases per capita of COVID-19 than many other areas of the state, and projections of its spread in Nebraska have been revised down, with fewer deaths and less need for ventilators and intensive care beds than previously thought.
Still, the number of cases has skyrocketed this past week in Lancaster County, growing from 14 on April 3, to 49 as of noon Friday.
John Woodrich, CEO of Bryan Medical Center, said the number of positive tests recorded at Bryan grew from nine on April 3 to 53 as of Friday.