Josh Penchina and Nora Singley

Surge: An ICU Nurse on the Front Lines of Covid's Deadliest Days in NYC

News EN ↓ 8 episodes

The 5-year anniversary reissue of the 2020 podcast chronicling the daily battles of an elite ICU nurse during the deadliest phase of NYC’s Covid pandemic (early April 2020). The series was born from daily phone calls between the nurse and her friends—the producers—that became increasingly urgent, revealing stories the world needed to hear. At the time of its initial broadcast, the unauthorized* first-hand accounts were unlike any other reporting on frontline caregivers swamped by caseloads and resource shortages. *Unauthorized to speak publicly, the nurse and her hospital are not named

Be sure to visit the podcast's website and support the creator: www.joshpenchina.com

Author

Josh Penchina and Nora Singley

Episodes

8. Last Rites 30.04.2025 4:58

The nurse's personal audio journal for her therapist, recorded at her breaking point.

7. Failure 30.04.2025 6:03

How can COVID-negative patients stay negative inside a hospital overrun with Coronavirus cases? Systemic problems in the hospital setting are nearly impossible to overcome at the height of the crisis, and the implications are deadly.

6. Gasping for Air 30.04.2025 9:29

The day of New York City's highest COVID death toll has arrived. In the ICU, patients inadvertently pull-out breathing tubes, alarms go unnoticed, and hastily trained medical staff continue their desperate battle against a disease they never signed up to fight.

5. Saying Goodbye 30.04.2025 11:48

Cheers of support. Intimate whispers of farewell. An otherwise stoic nurse is moved to the emotional brink.

4. On Fire 30.04.2025 10:17

She works at one of the top-tier hospitals in the country, but because of the strains Covid-19 is putting on the system, the hospital staff is losing hope and all that’s left is a sense of duty.

3. Nothing You Can Do 30.04.2025 15:02

Quality of care begins to suffer as cases overwhelm the hospital and caregivers are stretched thin. The consequences are tragic and deadly.

2. At Capacity 30.04.2025 10:47

Quality of care begins to suffer as cases overwhelm thehospital and caregivers are stretched thin. The consequences are tragic and deadly.

1. Airborne 30.04.2025 13:25

A cardio-thoracic ICU suddenly converts to a Covid-only unit,where the elite team of doctors and nurses caring for ventilated patients become repeatedly exposed to the deadly disease while grappling with resource shortages.