She Could Have Stayed Home, Chose to Serve as a Frontline Worker

When La Sierra University senior pre-med student Marielis George received the email in March 2020 announcing La Sierra University’s transition online due to the advancing pandemic, she faced a daunting reality.

The university allowed dorm students to remain on campus if they couldn’t return home. George, a native New Yorker with just months remaining in her degree program, had the option of staying on the campus in southern California. But she felt a responsibility to her parents and the university to leave campus and fly back to Yonkers, 20 miles outside of New York City. 

George arrived on March 15, when the Big Apple was buckling under the pandemic’s devastating spread that was destined to become much worse. As of May 28, 2020, officials had reported more than 16,600 COVID-19 deaths in the city and almost 200,000 cases. Major spikes struck in April, overwhelming hospitals and medical personnel.

“The scary part was that home was/is New York — the state responsible for most of the cases of COVID-19 in the U.S.,” George wrote in a short profile in early April for the university’s #lasierratogether webpage. In Yonkers, George’s father, Mario George, wanted his daughter to remain safely secluded in their family home. But Marielis had other plans.

George is a certified emergency medical technician (EMT) who is studying bio-health sciences as well as pre-med courses toward becoming a physician. She felt called to serve on the front lines of the pandemic, and despite the dangers and her fears, she signed up to work as an EMT with an ambulance company in her hometown.  

During the 2020 spring break, George worked about 64 hours, and she now works weekends while taking five La Sierra classes over video conferencing. Her company often responds to emergency calls in New York City, and the majority of George’s journeys have been to help people stricken by the highly contagious COVID-19. 

She and her co-workers are careful in their use of protective gear. “We simply provide help where help is needed,” George said. “Protocols have been modified to properly execute care during this pandemic. My wonderful mother has been making masks, so I use the one she made for me, but we only ‘gear-up’ when we are dispatched to a patient suspected of COVID-19 or that has tested positive. Although it is dangerous, we do not gear up for every call because of the limited resources.”

Her workday begins when she meets up with her partner and inspects her ambulance and medic bag to ensure all necessary supplies are present. There is also mental and emotional preparation, an aspect of the job included in EMT training. “It is challenging to deal with patients at this time, simply because everyone is in panic and confusion. I constantly have to remind myself to remain calm, so my patients remain calm,” she said. “Emotionally, it’s hard to see families and patients suffer.”

The suffering found its way into George’s own family. The rapidly spreading disease took the life of her aunt, followed by her aunt’s husband nine days later. Relying on her faith and the support of family and friends, the university senior continues pushing forward in her effort to help those in distress. Her loss has helped her better connect with those stricken by illness. “I noticed that I can find the proper words to say to patients much quicker than before,” she said. “COVID isn’t going to stop me from trying to make a positive impact on those who cross my path.”

George, her mother, Seneida George, and older sister, Melise Reyes, are Seventh-day Adventists and attend the Spanish Yonkers Seventh-day Adventist Church. She reads her Bible regularly with a good friend from school and with others and recognizes that her present challenges are drawing her closer to God.

“Through these trials, I enjoy reading my Bible much more, and having someone to do it with you and hold you accountable makes it so much more rewarding,” George said. “My faith has been tested but thankfully not weakened.”

As she notes in her #LaSierraTogether profile, “Comfort is found knowing that God knows my unknown, he’s in control of my sadness and anxiety, and most of all, he escaped death.”

The original version of this story was posted on the La Sierra University news site.