Palestine Police Officer Fights for his Life Against COVID-19
ECMO Machine Needed
Special to The Messenger
PALESTINE – A Palestine Police Officer who tested positive for COVID on Aug. 30 is now fighting for his life in a Tyler Hospital.
After having an itchy throat and a slight cough for a couple of days, Officer Fernando Nino tested positive for COVID-19. His only symptoms were a constant fever and fatigue.
For six days he alternated between Tylenol and Ibuprofen in addition to cold medication. For several hours each the day, he felt better and carried on normally.
Saturday, he had a couple of coughing fits which made him want to rest more. By Sunday, he couldn’t walk without feeling out of breath and having more coughing bouts. The next day, he was taken to the emergency room with his O2 levels in the low 80’s.
They put him on oxygen and sent him home with an oxygen tank and an oxygen machine to use at home. The following morning, he woke up with his O2 levels in the 70’s and was taken back to the hospital. This time he was admitted into the COVID unit.
Officer Nino had developed COVID pneumonia and had to be put on a BPAP machine. His condition quickly worsened, and the doctors found a hole in his right lung and a blood clot in his left lung.
Unable to get enough oxygen into his system, the following Monday, Sept. 13, Nino was intubated and transferred to a larger hospital in Tyler and put into an induced coma. After four days in the COVID ICU, Nino has continued to deteriorate. COVID left its mark and caused extensive damage to his lungs.
Unlike pneumonia which affects certain sections of the lung, COVID pneumonia affects all five lobes of the lung. The lung can no longer exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Doctors do not expect him to recover unless he is put on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine. An ECMO machine is an extracorporeal technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange or perfusion to sustain life.
There is a high demand for ECMO machines, especially in the south, and family and friends are asking for the public’s help to find a hospital that has an opening for Officer Fernando Nino before it is too late.
If you would like more information, please call Michele Herbert, Public Information Officer/Community Liaison, at 903-731-8418 or email at [email protected].
