MOBILE, Ala. – Approximately 450 miles north of Mobile on Interstate 65, one former University of South Alabama student-athlete is on the front line helping battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abby Baker — who lettered in volleyball at USA from 2013-17 — is a registered nurse in the Nurse Residency Program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., where she works in the Medicine/Cardiac Stepdown unit dealing directly with COVID-19 patients. 

"Being one of the main medicine units, ours was a good option to become the COVID-19 unit," she explained. "We are isolated from most of the hospital, which makes it the perfect place. We have 37 beds on our unit, and we turned 10 of those beds into ICU rooms, which are staffed by our ICU nurses. The plan has been to fill these beds, then the floor below us and continue the trend down this building. Technically, this unit was assigned and our nurses have all been great sports about not really having a choice."

Baker, like so many health care providers across the globe during the pandemic, has a concern of contracting the virus herself, but has also adjusted her post-work routine as well as personal time in order to diminish the potential of getting it.

"My daily routine looks very different than most," she said.  "I am constantly thinking about what I am touching, who I come into contact with, if I have the correct PPE at all times, etc. We all had our times where we were worried about taking certain germs home, but COVID is so contagious that I have an entire routine before even getting into my car. We all change into clean clothes, and wipe down every object before leaving the floor. Before getting into the car, I spray my shoes, put them in a sealed bag along with my scrubs, and change shoes. 

"When I get home, I lose the 'clean' shoes, go straight to the washing machine and throw everything in it, even the 'clean clothes' I am wearing, and nearly scald myself in the shower after that. It is really a lot to think about after working 12-plus hours on your feet. I socially distance and I always wear a mask to the grocery store, which is basically the only place I go. My personal life is definitely different, mainly because I worry about spreading the virus to someone if I have it without having symptoms. I always carry a bottle full of rubbing alcohol to spray on everything before I touch it.

"Call me OCD, but I prefer to have zero doubt about what I put my hands on."    

Changes have come throughout the work place in every sector, and Baker and her peers in the medical community are adjusting to those on the fly while helping patients fight the deadly virus. But the realities and darkness of COVID-19 also loom over caregivers across the globe.

"Our lives have changed in several ways," Baker said. "We have all lost the choice to see our families, to hug our kids, grandparents and even significant others. There have been so many happy stories and quite a few sad stories. We are trained to save lives, and letting people pass is not easy on my unit. We have teamed with palliative and hospice care doctors who have been amazing in training us to make the dying patients comfortable. 

"The hardest day for me was when one of my patients was in the active-dying process, and I was the only person in the room with him because his family members couldn't be there. Having to let someone go who you so badly wanted to save is a heavy burden. There have been several cases like this, but mine was just one of them. We decided to throw my patient a birthday party for his 86th birthday. That's something to celebrate!! It's hard for the patients to celebrate with their families so we try to make it special for them."

Being one of the leaders in health care in its region, Vanderbilt University Medical Center's website currently states its supply of medical equipment is satisfactory to meet the needs of both caregivers and patients, in addition to medical specialists trained in dealing with certain infections.

"Vandy has a team of ICU nurses and doctors who are trained specifically for disease outbreaks such as Ebola, COVID, etc., who staff the unit daily," Baker said. "We have ample equipment and PPE (personal protective equipment) to sustain a large outbreak.  We have been very blessed to only have a few intubated and ventilated patients at once, even though we have enough equipment for a few hundred." 

Baker is working to leave a legacy at VUMC just as she did as a student-athlete at South Alabama. She was a member of the Jaguar SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) for five years, and served as president of the organization for a year-and-a-half. 

She holds the Jaguar career record in digs per set (3.88), and ranks third in career digs (1,487). Baker's 4.28 digs-per-set average in 2016 ranks tied for the highest average in a single season in program history, while her freshman season of 3.79 digs per set ranks sixth. She recorded 409 digs as a freshman in 2013, which ranks ninth on the Jaguar single-season record list.

Baker earned her bachelor's degree in Kinesiology from USA in 2017, and went on to receive her nursing degree from the University of Mobile.

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