effects of the out break. >> tonight's guest this is "nightline." tonight. they are the first responders and our best line of defense. facing down the pandemic, training for those calls to come. shortages of staff. shortages of supplies. >> the stockings, gowns, all these things are disappearing from hospitals. >> their battles, their stories, their sacrifice. >> nurses don't go the other way. they go into the disaster. >> their dire warnings as our nation prepares for what's to come. >> plus, dr. richard besser, eyewitness to ebola, leaving america out of the last pandemic. now back tonight to answer your questions.

>> this special edition of "nightline," inside the front lines, will be right back.

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what's ahead. since "nightline's" inception, we've been dedicated to bringing you clear-eyed and essential information, facts before fear, especially during a national crisis, the iran hostages, the 9/11 terror attack, mass shootings and now this. as mr. rogers taught us, in times of trouble we should look to the helpers. and that's where we begin tonight. >> we need to make sure that our first responders are healthy, safe, so they can continue to make runs. >> nurses don't go the other way. they go into the disaster. >> with covid-19 cases continuing to climb around the nation, first responders bracing for an influx of patients and the reality that some of them are becoming headlines themselves. >> health care workers are now also starting to test positive. >> an emergency room doctor tested positive just days after attending a conference of hundreds of er doctors in new york city.

>> hundreds are battling this virus and preparing for it to get worth. >> new york's governor cuomo urging president trump to deploy the he ararmy corps of engineer. >> i know what the army corps can do. they have a capacity that we simply do not have. i said to the president, who is a new yorker, i need your help. i want your help. >> today the president promising to work with the governor. >> we're dealing with the army corps of engineers sthaud hould be necessary. >> the pentagon releasing from the strategy military reserve, 5 million respirator masks. and with cases exceeding 6,000 and deaths in the u.s. surpassing 100, we're with critical first responders around the country fighting this pandemic. >> we know it's only a matter of time before one of us is a

patient here. my team and i have taken care of about five to six covid-19-confirmed patients. some sicker than others. >> we are facing an absolute crisis on our hands. we are asked to take care of patients with a novel virus. so we don't know how that virus reacts. without what we need to be safe. >> though medical professionals get priority for testing, the total number who've contracted covid-19 is unknown. in new york and connecticut, 200 nurses have already been sent home because of potential exposure to the virus. jane, an er doctor in colorado is worried about that exposure, too. >> i have asthma, when i tend to get even a common cold or the flu. i am sometimes compromised for two or three months. so i'm one of those people who is quite honestly at risk every time i go into work. >> there's a great deal of anxiety that nurses are experiencing right now.

>> bonnie runs the national nurse's union. >> they don't have the adequate protections that they need to deliver the care, and they know that they are incurring significant exposure and don't want to bring that home to their family. >> the stakes could not be higher. if these responders fall ill, there's one less person in the fight. but it's not just staffing. key medical equipment is dwindling. >> our suppliers tell us we're within potentially two weeks of not being able to receive new supplies from them. that may start to be a critical issue. >> people are actually going into the wall units and taking out the bags of hand sanitizer that we use. any protective equipment, stockings, gowns, all these things are disappearing from hospitals. >> ppes or personal protective equipment is the precious armor for medical providers. they need to be covered just to administer a test. >> nurses are working with

inadequate protections, and that ranges from head resperate others, eye shields. >> medical professionals worry that staff and spliupplies aren the only assets in critical demand. >> hospital space. every day in the hospital we get patients with heart attacks and strokes. and if we now add to this a crisis, we're going to outstrip the act to handle. we're already seeing that in italy, of course. >> staying ahead of a potential outbreak is exactly what this team in wake county, north carolina is prepping for. conducting drill after drill to make sure they can handle any scenario. >> there are a set of questions that our 911 call takers will

ask. and, if the call-taking process triggers a concern for an infectious disease process going on, the first responders will receive a prealert in the computers that they have to consider of donning or putting on personal protective equipment as they go in. >> what we're going to do is we're going to check your temperature and we're going to go ahead and put this mask on you, just because we don't want you to be coughing everywhere. all right. you're going to feel some pressure in your ear. >> for paramedic josh reeves, this is essential as fears about the contagion grow. >> it's always smart to just wear your gloves, wear your proper equipment and just w precautions, proving critical after last month in kirkland, washington, a quarter of the town's firefighters were forced

into quarantine. in carmel, indiana, a suburb of indianapolis, firefighters here stepping up defenses. >> inside of our ambulances are getting completely disinfected with every run. >> their schedule now includes daily disinfecting and twice a day health checks. >> brothewe're getting close to p.m. so they're going to check things per our protocol. >> if we do come upon a patient who meets the criteria, we're going to drop it down to two firefighters and make sure they're wearing the correct ppe, which is protective gear, gowns, goggles, and n-95 mask. >> it's a precaution with the virus going on now. >> and in barstow, california, a stopover for many travelers, that same spirit of precaution has become the new normal. >> i want to make sure it's all

clean, because i know if it was my mom or my dad, i would want to make sure it's all clean. every call, this is all cleaned out. >> so many first responders facing the difficult quandary, how do you do your job while keeping yourself and others safe from infection. jessica chan, a nurse in new york city now physically separating herself from her husband and two daughters, sending them to stay with their grandparents until the outbreak goes down. >> i could not risk getting them sick also, because they will also interact with their grandparents. >> given jessica's relatively high risk of smed li rht thing to do, you know. it was difficult. >> and joining us now, dr. randall curtis, who's just coming off of nine straight days of grueling 12-hour shifts in the icu at seattle's harbor view

medical center at the front lines of battling the crisis in washington. thanks for your service and for joining us. how are you holding up? >> thanks, i'm holding up well. i think this is a challenging time, but the staff at harbor u are an amazing crew to work with and are providing outstanding care. that's a pleasure to watch and be a part of. and i think we're doing okay. >> we know that your hospital has canceled, already, elective surgeries to free up personnel and protective equipment. what's morale like inside? >> i think the morale is very good. i will say that the deaths are hard on people. it's very unusual for us to have to keep visitors out and to have these issues around quarantine, so that's very hard on families, obviously, and also hard on the staff. >> how do you tell them they

can't visit grandma or grandpa or aunts our uncles? that must be very difficult for you. >> it's very difficult. we do allow people to come in and look at their loved ones through the glass. that's been very helpful. because people can see their loved ones are comfortable. and, when, when they are dying, we make an exception and allow one or two family members in personal protective equipment. but this, you know, this is so different. usually we're completely open with no visiting hours. families can come. families can stay. but this, that part of this is extremely difficult. >> your area in seattle has been, in many ways, the tip of the iceberg. what would you say to other regions, other hot spots that may be seeing what you're seeing in a week or two? >> i think the biggest issues are to prepare. make sure you have plans for staffing, plans for personal protective equipment. those are probably the top priorities for hospitals and particularly critical care

units. and i think implementing these public health measures, to reduce the risk of the spread is just so important. >> dr. curtis, our thanks to you, not just for being with us today but for all the the the your patients. >> thanks very much. >> when we come back, dr. richard besser, from covering the swine flu to the ebola epidemic, now answering your coronavirus questions. stay with us. once-weekly ozempic® is ) helping many people with type 2 diabetes like james lower their blood sugar. a majority of adults who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. here's your a1c. oh! my a1c is under 7! (announcer) and you may lose weight. adults who took ozempic® lost on average up to 12 pounds. i lost almost 12 pounds! oh! (announcer) for those also with known heart disease, os hearstke, orea.e risk of major cardiovascular events it lowers the risk. oh!

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♪ all we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪ and we're now being joined but our friend and former chief

medical reporter, dr. richard besser who covered the ebola crisis in africa and served as the acting director of the cdc and led the response to the swine flu. and he is now the ceo of the robert wood johnson foundation. so pleased you could be here to answer our questions tonight. >> good to be here. >> we just heard from the front lines, from so. first responders and the critical shortages they're facing. do we have enough resources in place? >> you know, do we have enough resources depends in large part on how quickly this hits and whether people are able to do the things that are recommended, to try and slow this down. we have a strategic national stockpile, which is loaded with equipment to try and provide support to states and to hospitals. but, if this comes on like a tsunami, there's not going to be enough equipment. there's not going to be enough personnel. there's not going to be enough beds to take care of people.

but if we can slow this down the hope is we can provide care to those who need it. >> the stockpile includes ventilators, but each ventilate other requires personnel. >> it does. and when you think about the personnel who have to work that, there's not just doctors and nurses but technicians, as many as 15 people involved in using a ventilator. personnel becomes a big issue. >> how can state and federal governments support what you're talking about now and your former agency, the cdc? >> a couple things. i think we need to hear from the cdc more. trust is absolutely essential during a public health crisis. you want someone who you know is the leading expert in this area. and i know that cdc is loaded with heroes who are fighting this day in and day out. i want to hear from them. i want to hear what they're learning the day they learn it, and it's really important. >> and it's also important when the government says they will cut you a check. >> you have a burden when you

want everyone to stay at home. there are millions of people in america who live paycheck to paycheck. if you put money into people's pockets, that's a way they can stay home and do the right thing. >> you're familiar with a number of pandemics and studied them. how does this one compare to what we've seen previously? >> i've never seen a response like this, that has basically shut down society. but i think the biggest challenge here is if you get ebola are you at grave risk of dying. here, with this, 80% of people who get this will have either no symptoms or mild symptoms. and we're asking people to change their behavior who may be at very low risk of having a bad outcome. we're asking them to do it to protect the elderly, those with medical conditions, to protect homeless, to protect communities at great risk here of having severe disease. >> we want to bring in viewer questions. they all tend to ask good ones. a week ago a health expert on

ene nhk news said containtmement wo take longer in the u.s. than in china since counter measures would not be as draconian. should federal government coordinati coordination a more severe strategy now. >> with every outbreak, with every pandemic we need to learn as we go and adapt along the way. >> another says, although i recall what happened when we dealt with sars, what will it take to move us from pandemic to normalcy. >> with sars you didn't transmit until you had symptoms, with this it looks like you can transmit before you have symptoms, which makes it much harder. there's a lot of unanswered questions as to why sars went

away, and there are still so many unanswered questions with this illness, so much to learn. >> it's always a pleasure to see you and get your insight. tweet us your questions with the #ask"nightline." we'll be right back. to help keep you free from the risk of hiv. from the makers of truvada, a new prep option: descovy for prep. a once-daily prescription medicine that helps lower the chances of getting hiv through sex. it's not for everyone. descovy for prep has not been studied in people assigned female at birth. talk to your doctor to find out if it's right for you. step up. for health and body. prep up for your one and only love or many loves. for kings, this queen, and you royals in between. for my now. our now. and my future. our future. step up. prep up. descovy is the newest way to prep. descovy does not prevent other sexually transmitted infections, so it's important to use safer sex practices and get tested regularly. you must be hiv-negative to take descovy for prep. so you need to get tested for hiv immediately before and at least every 3 months while taking it.

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and finally tonight, in these uncertain times, love wins. nursing student carly boyd got engaged over the weekend. and she just had to share the news with her special person, grandpa shelton. in isolation at a nursing home in north carolina, separated by glass but still connected through the heart. >> it's just a very special moment, and i was glad i was able to share that with him. >> congratulations to carly and her fiance. that's "nightline." we'll see you right back here tomorrow night at this same earlier time, immediately after your local news. thanks for staying up with us, goodnight, america.

>> dicky: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live"! tonight, harrison ford. science bob pflugfelder. guillermo on the oscars red carpet. and music from wiz khalifa, ty dolla sign, lil yachty, and sueco the child. and now, stay here, jimmy

kimmel! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> jimmy: hi, everyone. i'm jimmy. i'm the host of the show. thanks for watching. thanks for watching. thanks to all of you for coming. thank you for joining us on the day after the oscars. the academy awards were handed out just across the street from us at the dolby theater last night. janelle monae opened the show with a version of the mr. rogers song "it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood" which was a nice idea, clever idea, but as those of you who lined up on hollywood boulevard know, there has never been a beautiful anything in this neighborhood. [ laughter ] this neighborhood, this is where homeless spidermen gather to steal wallets from canadians. that's what we do here. [ laughter ] a lot of the focus going into the show last night was on the lack of diversity. all the acting nominees but one were caucasian. and what do you do when you have a diversity problem? well, you hit them with the world's most famous white rapper, eminem. that's what you do. [ laughter ] i actually learned a lot last

night.