Whitehall alum served in harm’s way to beat COVID-19

You are currently viewing Whitehall alum served in harm’s way to beat COVID-19

By PJ Ferguson

 

While the COVID-19 pandemic has struck Upstate New York and the rest of the nation economically, what does life look like for those in the areas where the virus is currently most prevalent?

Alex Hyatt in PPE.

Rather than working from home, Alex Hyatt, a Whitehall alumnus and former Manchester Media employee, has volunteered his time to help the people who are seeing the true threat of the novel coronavirus.

For the past six weeks, Hyatt has been stationed in Westchester County, initially driving nurses to people’s homes for testing and then moving to a managerial role at a receiving and distribution center, providing tools and personal protective equipment (PPE) at a testing site in the county.

Outside of the five New York City boroughs, Westchester County has been one of the most infected counties in the state with 28,970 people testing positive and more than a thousand deaths due to the virus.

“This is a threat,” said Hyatt, praising the state’s response thus far to the pandemic, “I understand the feelings on the economic impact but you have to pick your poison. To me a human life is worth the inconvenience of having things shut down.”

Hyatt has experienced the virus up close, especially during his time as a driver for the nurses.

“It is very real for the teams of nurses knocking on those doors of a house with four people infected and you’re going to swab them,” he said.

Hyatt was not only responsible for getting the nurses safely to their destinations but ensuring that the waste from testing was properly disposed of and keeping the tests in a cooled environment.

At times, he and other drivers had to act as bouncers. Hyatt recalls when he drove nurses to an adult multi-living home in Queens when a woman approached asking if they could supply her with a mask.

Alex Hyatt without PPE.

“I had to consider what the mission was and say no,” he said.

One of those missions was managing inventory at a time when masks and PPE materials are the most sought-after items on the market.

“That experience showed me how difficult choices that need to be made in this situation are,” said Hyatt.

Working on the “rear of the front line,” Hyatt has been working 12-13 hour shifts, 12 days on and two days off with no lunch breaks.

Reassigned to a supply warehouse, duties began at 6:30 a.m., arriving for a quick line of questioning and a temperature check, for the “paramilitary operation” of ensuring nurses have the proper amount of PPE equipment and other tools they need to perform their jobs.

Not only do the nurses need equipment but so does the security and other staff that are directing traffic and keeping the operation in order. As the nurses’ shifts ended, the process would repeat over and over, and throughout the day Hyatt would help the team maintain the staff’s equipment needs, ensuring the duties continued diligently and safely.

While Hyatt has worked for the New York State Office of the Aging since 1999, he says he is actually pulling more experience from his time as a kid working at his grandfather’s lumber mill, MacLeod’s in Whitehall and as a shoe store manager.

All in all, Hyatt is marveled with how orderly and professionally the site was run, citing the “paramilitary aspect” as what “makes it most successful.”

Though the days are long, and he is certainly proud of dedicating his time, Hyatt says he is no hero.

“There are a lot of people that would do what I am doing,” he said.

The most rewarding aspect for Hyatt – seeing people come together and working for a common goal.

“I’ve never been prouder of the kind of people I’ve worked with, from all over New York, who put themselves in a spot they don’t have to be in. That’s what America is about. I saw the potential of what people have inside them.”

And while he has witnessed the virus at its worst, he has perhaps seen people at their best.