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Pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. James Goodrich, from Portland, Oregon, had a passion for fine wine, vintage medical books and playing the Australian didgeridoo. He was known professionally for carrying out the risky procedure of separating conjoined twins.
At the age of 73, while treating patients, Goodrich contracted the coronavirus and died in March.
Goodrich is one 586 people, and counting, featured in the new Lost on the Frontline project, which reveals the true extent of the pandemic on U.S. frontline healthcare workers.
Those memorialized include nurse Marsha Bantle.
Bantle's family pleaded with her to stop putting herself at risk by working in a coronavirus-stricken Indiana nursing home. "My patients can't leave their rooms, they can't see their families. They really need me right now," Bantle told her cousin Carol Isaacs, according to The Guardian. Bantle had a high fever on April 17 and had a stroke a week later. She died on May 1.
Launched by The Guardian and Kaiser Health News, the Lost on the Frontline database includes nurses, paramedics, doctors, nursing home staff, and support workers, including administrative staff and janitors.
The information on each individual has been hand-gathered by reporters using various sources, including unions, health workers, media reports, friends, medical examiners, family members and colleagues of the fallen.
In some states medical staff make up a fifth of all coronavirus cases, and it appears that many of their deaths often go vastly under reported due to poor tracking systems and deaths at home. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not identify the individuals who have passed away as a result of contracting COVID-19.
Most of the people memorialized on the Lost on the Frontline database are people of color, largely from Asian/Pacific Islander and African American backgrounds.
Ages, job titles, location and ethnicity of all the people in the project will be published this summer, on an interface for the worldwide public to view. The interactive program will also show if the person had suitable personal protective equipment (PPE) while working.
Some of the findings so far have shown that many frontline staff reused masks and used trash bags to protect themselves, due to robust PPE being unavailable while working.
About the writer
Jade has been a journalist for more than 15 years. She has lived in and reported on the Middle East, ... Read more