The end of winter and beginning of spring is often a time of great celebration and rejoicing in emergency departments across the state of Florida. We exhale collectively after having survived the migration of the snowbirds, the peak of viral illness outbreaks, being short members of our care teams due to staff illnesses, and working out of any hallway, nook or cranny a stretcher or chair could be placed because the entire ED is full of boarders.

Alas, our hyperdrive workflow continues as the novel coronavirus results in emergency physicians, yet again, being placed on the front lines of disaster management. Colleagues are sending patients to the ED from their offices; any free moment we have to attend a social gathering is overtaken by questions about the personal and collective risk to our communities; the public are presenting as worried well or critically ill, needing respiratory support and health systems; and government officials are asking us to help weather the outbreak, all while mitigating public hysteria. Once again, emergency physicians will be at the helm and do what we can with the resources we have to weather the storm.

This winter, I have had personal time to reflect upon the reasons as to why I am passionate about my work. One of the primary reasons I am committed to the work of emergency medicine is because our patients desperately need us: often they are unable to advocate for themselves, and frequently, they tolerate extreme circumstances to obtain our help. However, the most important factor in my commitment to emergency medicine is emergency physicians. We all have reasons as to why we chose careers in our specialty, and they are common to us all.

We meet people in their times of fear, distress and need. We provide the best care possible without regard to race, gender, creed, socioeconomic status or severity of illness. We do so despite the real and potential dangers we face, the sleep we lose, and the terror we endure as we care for undiagnosed patients under less-than-ideal working conditions, absorbing the burden of suffering as we are surrounded by tragedy and the difficult task of advocating for patients in a disjointed health care system, where burned out physician colleagues may not always receive our calls with joy.

Emergency physicians do amazing work even when lives and limbs are lost. We leave people and places better than we found them. I cannot think of a greater challenge or privilege. This work is hard, underpaid and underappreciated but, nevertheless, worth doing. We all know this to be true or we wouldn’t be doing it. I am grateful for you and your commitment to serving your communities, patients and care teams during this difficult time. ■

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
LOVE THEM ANYWAY.
If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives.
DO GOOD ANYWAY.
If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies.
SUCCEED ANYWAY.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.
DO GOOD ANYWAY.
Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable.
BE HONEST AND TRANSPARENT ANYWAY.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
BUILD ANYWAY.
People who really want help may attack you if you help them.
HELP THEM ANYWAY.
Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt.
GIVE THE WORLD YOUR BEST ANYWAY.
-MOTHER TERESA