ER Doctor Says He Walks Into A 'War Zone' Every Day

Emergency room physician Cleavon Gilman compares working in a hospital amid the pandemic to war.

"You can actually die at your job now, and that's never really been an issue before," he says.

He has the experience to make the comparison: Gilman served as a combat medic in the Iraq War.

"Health care providers are walking into a war zone every day where we can be killed by this virus, and even serve as a Trojan horse to bring it home to our family and to kill our loved ones," Gilman tells Rachel Martin on Morning Edition. "The amount of emotional strain our health care providers are under right now is just unimaginable."

The pandemic has created multiple crises for health care workers.