The First Wave

This is a great documentary that shows the pandemic in a different perspective. Thanks to all the nurses for their hard work during this hard time! This touches on so many different issues, i feel like not one is more important then the other. As humans, we should come together.

The stories of those who overcame, and the care of the medical professionals towards their patients, was absolutely breathtaking.

Anyone who says differently, trivializes the suffering of others and the work of the healthcare professionals. In fact, those who marked a 1 and voiced their opinion, made clear their ignorance.

As a nurse who worked in the icu this is the most accurate documentary I've seen. I hesitated to watch it since I'm trying to work through it all still. When she was explaining the frustrations of not being able to actually help anyone it really hit home. In the beginning patients would get better and we would tell their families and give them hope because we didn't know better yet. Then they would suddenly crash and code. It was completely soul crushing to not be able to help these people who were suffering. Everyone was calling us heroes but we were barely saving anyone early on. I felt like such a failure. Also how attached we get to our patients, we say we try to separate it but I think we all had those that we got close to, them and their families, who hit us harder when they passed. The first thing we would do when walking in the door is check and see if they are still alive. I'm glad this gives a glimpse of what it was like for both the patients and staff. Also glad PT's got airtime, those that were lucky enough to survive had a long road ahead of them. Wish they had also focused on a RT, they are so crucial always but especially during covid. I think it was very well done overall.

Kieleargente , ragerino , uncleruckus-27636 said it all - there is actually nothing more to add.. besides underlining that this is a documentary and not a movie.

It is heart wrenching, I am not crying easily .. but when the one nurse started washing her hands, ranting and swearing at all of this after a patient died, I lost it.

It really really just shows you the extraordinary emotional stress these people especially are going through.

I do not understand the 1-6 star ratings, I have no idea who and how one can come to this "conclusion/opinion".

I personally feel very deflated after seeing this. I fear/feel nothing will change. Authorities and our systems will always 'be' like this. Prioritising profits instead of standing up for values like community, care, decency...etc.

I too believe a strict lockdown worldwide could/would have changed the course of this pandemic.

I thought Matthew Heineman did justice by being able to film what was going on in the ICUs at the time. The hospital they were at was in Queens and I was in Brooklyn at the time. It's accurate. I was surprised the film crew was able to capture more of the intimate moments that the public doesn't get to see. It's a necessary watch, despite the flashbacks. Part of me thinks if they were releasing footage like this early on in the pandemic, it would've changed a lot of public opinion. The other part says some people still would've turned a blind eye. Also, beware of the other reviews calling this fake. Those Herman Cain award nominees wouldn't even know...