Retired Medical Staff, Students Urged to Volunteer for Service

Governor Cuomo is putting out an urgent plea for former doctors and nurses to return to duty.

In a tweet on Thursday, the New York governor announced that the state is asking retired health care professionals to be part of a "reserve staff" that will be on call if more help is needed.

As the coronavirus continues to affect more New Yorkers, the fear is that hospitals could soon be overrun with patients. In Italy, the overcrowded hospitals were made worse by a lack of doctors and nurses who, themselves, became infected. A reserve workforce of medical professionals would be very useful if the same situation happened in New York.

The staff would be used to supplement hospital capacity on a temporary basis to treat seriously ill coronavirus patients including those that may need to be intubated. In addition to retired doctors and nurses, Cuomo is also calling on qualified medical and nursing school students to pitch in if the need arises.

If you happen to qualify and would like to volunteer to be a part of the reserve staff, there's a Health Professional Survey on the New York Department of Health's website that you can fill out online.

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