EMERGENCY ROOM: The Covid Diaries
Emergency Room: The Covid Diaries, is a true-life look behind the headlines first-hand account of what it was like behind the scenes at a major American hospital as the Covid-19 pandemic swept through the United States as seen by nurses and doctors who dealt with the unprecedented crisis every day.
Told through the eyes of Guy Maddison, a Registered Nurse at a level one trauma center in Seattle, Washington, Emergency Room tracks the on-the-ground medical response as the virus arrived on US shores. We learn about the massive operations required to protect healthcare workers and the public from the disease, the personal fears and anxieties of patients and staff, and what went right and what went horribly wrong.
Anchored by journalist Matthew Hall, who steers us through the often harrowing and sometimes humorous journey asking the questions medical and epidemiology newbies want to know and help explain why this story remains as relevant today as April 2020.
Meet the Hosts
Guy Maddison
Nurse, Mudhoney Bass Player
Guy Maddison is a critical care registered nurse who has worked at the Level One Trauma Center, Harborview Medical Center for the last 20 years. During his career he has worked as an ICU nurse, a Stat Nurse, a nursing manager and the director of the Cardiology department at Harborview. He has previously held the co-chair position of the hospital's Code Blue committee, responsible for oversight of in-hospital cardiac arrests. He currently works as an Anesthesia Coordinator. During the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic, he was initially reassigned to a role as one of the covid coordinators at Harborview, in this role he was responsible for the coordination of testing of potential covid admissions, placement and movement with in the hospital of covid positive patients and the staff who care for them, as well as maintaining the isolation procedures and protocols on a daily basis.
Guy has also been the Bass player of the Seattle based rock outfit Mudhoney, often credited as one of the bands essential in the formation of the Seattle Grunge scene. With Mudhoney he has toured the U.S and the world, including Europe, South America, Australia, Japan and the Middle east. Having recorded 5 LPs and numerous singles and live records with the band, they continue to work on new material and intend to return to the stage when the pandemic abates.
Matthew Hall, Journalist
Matthew Hall is neither a nurse nor a doctor. He is, though, an expert in asking dumb questions in his role as a journalist, author, and producer who has written about conflict, culture, and sport for The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, the New York Times, South China Morning Post, Rolling Stone, Playboy, and Foreign Policy, among others.
He is the award-winning writer and producer of The Away Game, a documentary broadcast by National Geographic, ARD Germany, and SBS-TV Australia about soccer players and migration that was adapted from his book of the same name. He has campaigned against human rights violations in sport and human trafficking through sports and addressed the European parliament in Brussels on these issues. Born in Perth, Western Australia, he lives in New York City where he also coaches girls soccer teams. Like everyone else, he has played in a band but it’s highly unlikely you have heard of any of them.
