WEBVTT 00:00.040 --> 00:04.900 Aziz , 00:04.900 --> 00:07.310 The world's focus turned towards the 00:07.310 --> 00:10.610 novel coronavirus many military service 00:10.610 --> 00:12.554 members were called to serve . I'm 00:12.554 --> 00:14.277 actually from upstate New York 00:14.277 --> 00:16.499 originally used to go to baseball games 00:16.499 --> 00:18.666 there , and I was a kid . New York the 00:18.666 --> 00:20.888 city that never sleeps was brought to a 00:20.888 --> 00:24.840 standstill . Is the Covic 19 Pandemic 00:24.850 --> 00:26.906 took hold . When I got off the bus , 00:26.906 --> 00:28.850 the streets were empty . The whole 00:28.850 --> 00:31.017 situation seemed pretty desperate when 00:31.017 --> 00:33.239 we got there . When the need to relieve 00:33.239 --> 00:35.183 the pressure on the local hospital 00:35.183 --> 00:37.350 system in New York became a priority , 00:37.350 --> 00:39.461 Major Michael Smithers joined his map 00:39.461 --> 00:42.140 unit , the 531st Hospital Center , to 00:42.140 --> 00:44.290 deploy and answered . The call way 00:44.290 --> 00:46.457 moved fairly fast , and there wasn't a 00:46.457 --> 00:48.370 lot of time to think about my own 00:48.380 --> 00:51.250 health . Immortality . Major Smithers 00:51.260 --> 00:53.093 was part of a joint mission that 00:53.093 --> 00:55.190 included a collaboration of military 00:55.200 --> 00:57.000 and civilian service members to 00:57.000 --> 00:59.500 transform the Javits Exhibition Center 00:59.520 --> 01:02.270 into the Javits Medical Station . On 01:02.270 --> 01:04.159 time was against them . Before we 01:04.159 --> 01:06.214 started taking care of patients , we 01:06.214 --> 01:08.270 had to build a hospital . Smithers , 01:08.270 --> 01:10.214 who has served in many unforgiving 01:10.214 --> 01:12.326 environments , relied on his military 01:12.326 --> 01:14.214 training to assist and ensure the 01:14.214 --> 01:16.214 facility was ready for the Covic 19 01:16.214 --> 01:18.326 pandemic . We're setting up a medical 01:18.326 --> 01:20.492 hospital for sick patients , and so we 01:20.492 --> 01:22.548 had to make sure we were quick to do 01:22.548 --> 01:24.770 that . So you really had to think about 01:24.770 --> 01:26.881 what material you needed , what tools 01:26.881 --> 01:29.048 you needed , what you're going to take 01:29.048 --> 01:30.937 care of the patients . One of the 01:30.937 --> 01:33.103 biggest challenges with setting up the 01:33.103 --> 01:35.326 hospital is creating a work environment 01:35.326 --> 01:37.860 where multiple agencies , probably 30 01:37.870 --> 01:39.880 to be exact , could work together 01:39.890 --> 01:42.510 against the clock team at Javits took 01:42.510 --> 01:44.870 on the daunting mission . In four weeks , 01:44.880 --> 01:46.830 Javits Medical Station became a 01:46.830 --> 01:49.090 hospital , medical warehouse and 01:49.090 --> 01:51.340 command post , making it the hub for 01:51.340 --> 01:53.880 treating Cove in 19 positive patients 01:53.890 --> 01:55.779 during the pandemic in New York . 01:55.779 --> 01:58.001 Everyone was motivated to get this done 01:58.080 --> 02:00.247 in an extremely short period of time , 02:00.247 --> 02:02.247 thinking about what we've done . We 02:02.247 --> 02:04.413 have capacity in this hospital of 3500 02:04.413 --> 02:07.160 that's we've created in four weeks 02:07.170 --> 02:09.330 hospital That's bigger than any other 02:09.340 --> 02:12.000 hospital in the country with the Javits 02:12.000 --> 02:14.390 Center Operation Smithers and the 02:14.390 --> 02:16.750 military medical personnel , code named 02:16.750 --> 02:20.040 Silver Dragons saw more than 10 co vid 02:20.040 --> 02:21.762 positive patients during their 02:21.762 --> 02:23.929 deployment , putting them on the front 02:23.929 --> 02:25.984 lines of the fight against the virus 02:25.984 --> 02:28.151 coming face to face with patients with 02:28.151 --> 02:30.151 the coronavirus . You don't see the 02:30.151 --> 02:32.262 side effects so obvious other than in 02:32.262 --> 02:34.373 their vital signs . They're breathing 02:34.373 --> 02:36.540 hard . They're breathing deep . You're 02:36.540 --> 02:36.380 just supporting with all the oxygen you 02:36.380 --> 02:38.658 could give them . After his deployment , 02:38.658 --> 02:41.600 with 531st , Smithers stands ready to 02:41.600 --> 02:43.711 bring what he's learned from his time 02:43.711 --> 02:45.656 in New York toe win Army Community 02:45.656 --> 02:47.820 Hospital to help support his comrades 02:47.830 --> 02:50.100 in case of a resurgence of the virus 02:50.110 --> 02:52.110 will be ready for that . And I feel 02:52.110 --> 02:54.332 comfortable that way could take care of 02:54.332 --> 02:56.499 patients . Although his mission at win 02:56.499 --> 02:58.610 remains his focus , Smithers is ready 02:58.610 --> 03:00.666 to answer the call , whether home or 03:00.666 --> 03:00.610 abroad .