Kit Bredimus and Heather Bredimus

00:06 My name is kit bredimus. I am 37 years old today's date is December 18th 2024 recording from Midland, Texas and I'll be recording with my wife has a rose 37 years old is December 18th 2020?

00:24 And I'm with my husband kids brightness.

00:29 So I'm thinking about this I go back to the very beginning when we were going to college deciding on a career and you were

00:45 Nursing school and I was a teacher.

00:49 I mean this Reverend Maximus.

00:53 No, definitely not. I I I do remember our younger years. I remember the the transition to nursing when I when I told you and my family that I was thinking about it free or nursing and going to be changing schools leaving everything I've known and I'm going down to Galveston that you can be to go to nursing school there. I remember the fear and kind of nervous energy of going in nursing not really knowing what to expect. I remember the very first day of nursing school. Like why did you want to become a nurse? Like it's just that the answer is that everyone always wants to know and for me? I remember everyone had these beautiful stories about how they come from a long line of nurses or that they've been touched in a special way in for me. I didn't have that. I didn't really have one of those really touching stories for me. It was more about you know, God for your choice. Really? I thought that it would be a good job to get out of college make decent pay good job portability.

01:52 And a lot of flexibility and what I wanted to do with nursing there's there's all kinds of different ways. I could be a nurse but I remember that junior year and I know you remember this to about how I just depressed I was nursing school is hard. I was in a very new place that I didn't know anybody and it was there that I'm in that point that I found my passion for nursing when I M does clinical that I got to do with it laid hands on patience and they got to see the interaction between patient and nurse. I mean it was just so powerful for me that I was like, yes. This is what I need to be doing. So I ran out of gate I know when we started out as a young married couple it was really this was nothing I ever thought we would be at this point now where I Chief nursing officer of our hometown hospital we move back for Hometown.

02:46 Heather and I are Highschool sweethearts. So this is our our home and a moving up through the ranks through the years. It was no nothing. I ever expected. I either thought I would be a bedside nurse for forever. And now we've ended up at being in charge of the hospital in our hometown that is under under siege right now by pandemic. We were living in Galveston and it was 2005 and Hurricane Katrina hit and Hurricane Rita hit and we grew up in the Permian Basin. It's it's pretty much desert here and in this is totally unfamiliar to us hurricane season, and I remember watching on the news the impending to whom you know, what we're going to get hit with and the fear and luckily he was a student at UTMB at the time not working at the hospital. So we were able to evacuate really early.

03:44 And and we miss all of it. We didn't have very much damage to your house. And I remember after that, you know, we came back home and we stay with my parents watching it on the news and you're telling me you know, if I had been a nurse working in the hospital right now. We couldn't have left. I would have to stay there with the patient's, you know, whether it flooded whether we lost electricity like you could have left, but I can't and that freaks me out and I decided we can't live here anymore. And so we decided to move away from Galveston and we moved to Austin and really good time there and then we got the opportunity to

04:33 Buy my parents house and move back here and you weren't you know, Hometown hospital as a nurse. I was a teacher, you know, I try to get away from from of exclusive an experience as we had to this pandemic. I never wanted to be a part of it but it was, you know at the very beginning it was a glimpse of what it could be with you as a nurse.

05:00 Yeah, I know. I I I remember that sending you the forecast and all the different models that you know, if it's a category 5 hits it, you know that they see our entire lives were washed away. I remember that day specifically cuz it was a it was a Tuesday and they let us out half day of class and they had said, you know, I was going to evacuate tomorrow and so it was that doomsday scenario where people talk about you know, like you've only got an hour to grab everything out of your house. Like what can you fit in your car? You know, what's what's the most important stuff for you? So I remember that and having a lot of stuff behind and just hoping it would be there when we got back and then you're having to me to watch those and see the forecast and in thinking about my my fellow nurses as we've done clinical. I got to know a lot of the nurses that were in the hospital.

05:51 And they were staying behind and taking care of patients and working for the evacuation. But again, there's patients that they could evacuate at that point. So other than have to hunker down and and as many folks out there that were working hurricane-prone areas Houston Florida is Louisiana's anywhere on the coast. They know what that's like to cuddle and place you shelter in place and you take care of patients. Oh, yeah, we had moved back out to our home town where hurricanes are definitely not an issue after it's just lie flat dry land. But yeah, I never thought that we've run into something like this where it did we just where you know, Midland always been kind of this inoculated little area. That's kind of separate Arana our own little island geographically, but you have to have this finally hit our hometown and then when the pandemic did hit

06:48 You know it hit pretty hard and I think it's pretty miraculous that we've been able to respond in the way that we have that we've been able to find money to open up new patient rooms to find staff to Federal resources in to help us to staff those areas and the equipment and everything that we need. But then being here in our hometown and being kind of the the blase attitude of you know, mask-wearing mitigation techniques. Our hometown is very conservative is very, I don't know how you would describe it.

07:29 Conservative and not really accept science and in many ways kind of set in their ways and it's very right far right and it and I think that has been I think some of the obituary all out of DC and and nationally as we've seen it just kind of Decay again. I never thought it would reach our hometown being insulated from that stuff and it took root pretty pretty quickly and I'm pretty deeply, because you know mask became politicized science became plus size and

08:14 The nurses and doctors were interested anymore. That's the crazy part, you know, we live in such a small town and we would read on social media, you know people thinking this is a hoax that mice don't work. You know that is just like the flu and I was just thinking how can you think that you know, like you grew up with us, you know, when you see kids at the unified command briefings, which is a weekly Facebook live video that the hospital does to update the community on what's Happening. You know, we go out here our whole lives. Everybody knows that as you know, I mean and instill people aren't believing what he says you aren't believing their own doctors.

09:08 Yeah, I think that you know that the term that we here now is neighbor turning on neighbor and that's what many people were trying to avoid. But yet they they continue to stoke this the sphere in this kind of hesitant see to believe that yeah, like I grew up here. These are this is my town. I know half the population but have them not trust us or to say disparaging things like when the hold you but that's my issue was going on and that you do nurses and doctors in the hospital guy accused of being paid murderers. Yeah, and that we actively want people to get covid-19. That was terrible. Those are so far my professional career.

09:58 And I think to have to continue to you no go on social media to go on as unified command briefings and say like, you know, we're tired. Where are the Frontline Caregivers for the tip of the spear? And I remember speaking to city council and saying that you know as healthcare workers. We we are no longer the front line that the front line is now in the community hospital is the last line of defense and if we were getting overwhelmed with cases, I mean we had people dying by the dozens even our own staff.

10:35 I have to

10:38 Health first one. I did not think if you the first 2K

10:43 I'm exhausted now.

10:46 Anyway, you don't have to tell the community that we're here to save your lives and that you should trust us. You know, what kind of goes without sex. That's usually what hospitals do that's what healthcare workers do that for here for

11:04 Don't have to go through that was very challenging and I can imagine you know, I can't imagine what that's like on your ends having to be home taking care of the kids while I'm pulling 14 16 hour days.

11:18 Yeah, I don't think anyone really understood the position that you and I were in I mean, we got a lot of positive comments, you know from our friends like checking in on us. How are y'all like, we appreciate everything you are doing, you know at the time when is hit and everyone scared and we didn't know what to do if it was at the hospital policies daily by the hour and you know, he couldn't come home like he usually did, you know one time or even close to on time for dinner or like putting the kids to bed like everything was on me and the only thing I could do was so masks like they turn part of the hospital into like a sewing room and they instead of laying off nurses because they weren't able to do elective surgeries at the time. They use those nurses to sew mask for the patients and anyone who came in

12:17 Visit at the hospital and so that's what I was doing at home. And I remember kit telling me I just need you to take care of the kids and take care of yourself. Don't get sick because if you do I can't take care of you. Like I have to be at the hospital.

12:37 And I knew like I cannot take care of 4 kids while I'm sick. So I just hunker down with stayed home. You know my hobby became sewing mask and and that's what we did. But you know.

12:54 It's it's easy. I don't know I say it's easy to like.

12:59 Try to picture what the life of a nurse the front line nurse was at that time because we saw it on the news. We see it detected in TV shows now, but kids job was different because he's in administration and you know, he everything was changing and he was in charge of it. It was a lot of responsibility. He come home exhausted and I'd ask him how his day was but he does he want to talk about it. Just he just wanted to eat take a shower go to bed repeat and it was lonely and it was hard. But I knew that this would last forever. So I did it all myself. I became a single parent basically.

13:48 The hardest part for me and swear I'm going to cry is we're foster parents we have for the past 6 years.

14:01 Aunt

14:03 April we got a phone call for a 6 year old boy and he had nowhere to go. He been sleeping a shelter for 3 months and there's a limit once you've been in a shelter for 3 months and they have to ship you to another town if you can't find a place for you.

14:25 And they are agency begged us to take him and he said he has you know, what a few health issues but you know kids doctor he's you know, and you know, I think it would be a great fit and so I asked him about it and he said I can't help you. If you do this. You have to know you're on your own and you know, what the kids I was homeschooling them. I was home all the time. Summer was coming. You know, I know I know going to have school to deal with like I felt like I could do it.

15:02 And so we took him in and

15:06 You know God has never give you the phone call and say this kid has no problem that is never the case. He he had much more expensive health problems. Then he led us to believe and we weren't able to treat it in our hometown and I was constantly having to drive two hours away to different cities to take him to a specialist and at that time hospitals weren't letting any visitors like extra people come so it could only be me taking him and then my four kids will have to be home with a babysitter like all the time cuz I was traveling so much for the

15:54 And then of course there was a behavior problems and it was it just was too much and so

16:06 How to walk away from Foster in this year and it was pretty challenging and

16:20 I thought the only way we would ever stop is when they cut you off at 6 kids. We have four of our own and we thought we would adopt two.

16:30 And then we would have to turn in my license but this and 10 Minute Clinic.

16:38 Yeah, it took that from us.

16:44 And it's been challenging. I mean, I remember that cuz I'm I consider myself a very active appearance and an active dad. That was one of the reasons why I actually even just considered management and Leadership. I never I never wanted to go into leadership or management side. I didn't like the hiring and firing pieces. I just want to be a nurse but as my email leadership kind of grew on the unit accrue in the organization like it is clear that I needed to step up in that role. But I was one of the things I remember I've had that conversation when I was going to take a leadership role when I was going to apply for it, you know. Are you ready for an 825? Are you ready for me to you know have weekend you were super guess you were ready for Christmas and Thanksgiving.

17:33 Since since we were together, honestly, I mean the whole professional time before that. I always had to work Christmas and Thanksgiving and holidays and you know, this is all so lonely being really ready for that me telling you that I'll let you know when I leave like when you're a nurse when you leave work.

17:51 The mental part of it stays with you. But but you do have the ability to disconnect you can leave work at work. And that's why I remember you can always you still do what you asked me about you and how my day was and

18:03 Not really just I don't like to talk about it with see stuff through my through my years. I worked in the emergency department for most of my career and I mean we see horrible things of all kinds of human suffering and you leave it at work so I can come home and be a dad.

18:26 The CEO, you know when this happened when when we did Foster and you know is I always want to be there for my kids and I've always tried to strike that balance but it's hard and and I told Heather, you know until you multiple times that it's not about balance because there's going to be times where the scale shift and you have no no opportunity to change that. So it's more of a Harmony that you know, there's times when the hospital need me more in there so many times when you need me before and you know, each one will have to take so we've always I think there's obviously been some tough times swine flu. Remember those previous ones that came through disasters when those occurred here in town with the train wreck that killed so many people the mass shooting event. They killed so many people all of those events have painted art.

19:22 Our lives but this has been different in the fact that it's just been so consistent. I've never been in a disaster for 10 months and living like this for 10 months and it's doing I mean, we're still not even through the peak yet. So to know that that's still kind of a looming out there is as challenging as well that you are going back to, you know, when it when it took fostering from us when we weren't able to do that when I couldn't provide the support that you needed. So you take care of our kids let alone, you know help Foster in those kind of things. That was you don't get one of the darkest times that it's taking us through this time.

20:00 But you know, I am hopefully my we had to give up our license on that. You know that we still try to find ways to help foster kids in our area were still and I went to Casa training. So I'll be a casa soon. You do stuff with the the basement rooms in the harbor in Fort Worth or friends and we know that this is our calling and so even though we're still in the middle of this pandemic we can still help we found what is not easy like when kids with training to become a casa, which was just like a month or two ago.

20:47 You would have to be added a virtual training like he would go from work and then 30 minutes later. He had to be on a zoom phone call for this virtual training for 3 hours. So I wouldn't see him at all on Tuesdays, but I knew there's only going to be like a 7-week program and

21:07 We know that we know we can do is short spurts of helping other people but this definitely affected the way we volunteer around town. That was a huge part of my life. Yeah. No, I mean that's always I mean I was part of our identity is being foster parents.

21:26 Is being involved parents in general and to see you know, everything shut down, you know, all of our kids activities are kids school, you know the boys we have to homeschool them this year. Has been tough and everything else having to

21:51 I'm wondering how you explain that to your kids or are how that process unfolded if if you want to talk about that?

22:01 Yeah. We'll try to get through that without trying to but it's to me it's been really challenging so are our boys they are twins that are 11 years old and we got a four year old girl and a three-year-old boy Ben and Molly and Jack and Logan are our oldest boys, you know, they're old enough to know that something's different something's wrong and we just turned them in a new school last year and we're getting ready to enroll them again this year course everyone knows the spring break was the longest spring break in history for everybody knows to come back to school after spring break.

22:44 And I remember us having those conversations in the summer about you know, what do we do? How are we having us and our kids to school or homeschool options that you you have the ability to homeschool in and do that not only with your background as a teacher but also having the ability to do not have to to be at a work location. So you have to work and we didn't have to worry about putting our kids in a situation where maybe other students for my mom like at the time when we were trying to decide what to do with the kids during the summer all of the schools waited till the very last minute to decide what they were going to do. I need medication protocols no mask. No social distancing.

23:37 Business as usual and we were totally uncomfortable with that and we told them, you know, they knew kept her to the hospital, you know, like it's not okay with us and would it be okay if we just took your curriculum and I just homeschooled and still dependent is over and I will join the classroom again, and they said no you going to come face-to-face or unenroll is for the private school. So public school, like they've gone through so many phases, but they didn't start wearing masks until November.

24:20 I think the hardest part for me and talking with the kids is that you know, they know that they they were going to be going back to school. They were going to be seeing their friends and having to explain that Dynamic and why you don't keep again here in our town we

24:36 Most popular of the population I say he is somewhat trying but then there's a pretty good subset of the population that are very defiant to any medication. So it's business as usual here. They're still having Gatherings or something play days. No masking. No distancing. Nothing in our kids are friends with some of those kids. And so when they see that their friends are still hanging out together in that you do our neighborhood kids are roaming around in the in a giant marauding gang of children.

25:10 Add puppies and I'm like, no, you can't go out there. It was so sad it like I'm laughing but it was really sad and it still is you know, we've done a good job of explaining why we're doing what we're doing, but it's you know conversation that you don't really want to have with your eleven-year-old about you know, why does mean so much and why people are ignoring it cuz they understand morality. They understand, you know, love thy neighbor and take care of your neighbor, but

25:43 Can understand what they can't understand is how they get it but it's oh. That's why you cover your sneeze you cover your cough because it stops it from spreading everywhere. They get that in to see them again having to deal with us this week having to round up our kids and grab them out of the house. So Community, I've been a vocal advocate for masking and I I went to city council and I asked them to put in a mask mandate and I stayed at a very Stark picture of what our hospital is looking like and luckily our CEO or chief medical officer. They all went right behind as well. It said the same thing and then even Heather at my wife, you know came.

26:40 The city council in different weeks four weeks in a row each one of us every time they turned it down. And so I decided to create a Facebook group called masks in Midland where we basically whenever we're out if we notice a business that has a sign on the door stating that they require masks if we see that are employees are all wearing masks or they social tables at restaurants, you know, we promote them on that on that Facebook group and

27:19 When I went to speak to city council that was the week when all of the anti-maskers went and protested and they came and none of them warm and they all sat in chairs were right next to each other where the there was a sign posted on it that says please don't sit here for social distancing and they sat on those signs unmasked isn't the tiny room and I was like this isn't super special events. Like I'm wearing a mess, but I feel totally vulnerable. I want to get out of here, but I was there to speak for a reason and you know with the publicity that this Facebook group has gotten mostly positive. It has infuriated in real estate anti-maskers and now they have come after me and they want of them came to our house two days ago.

28:18 And there's your Facebook live out in front of her house inciting insinuating that this is where we live and you know that we're bullies because we keep trying to advocate for Masten got a ton of ammo time. I spoke to city council about, you know, the death threats. I mean, they were death threats that you know, people will enact their second amendment rights to protect their freedoms their freedom being the freedom to not have to wear a mask in public and this is to a nurse. Is it a cheetah Chief nursing officer of the hospital? Who said also I need you guys to do is wear a mask socially distance to take care of yourself. So we have a place for you in the hospital cuz right now we don't and

29:11 So much rage and again, I never thought we would be in the situation is as a nurse and an in a teacher and you know where the focus of so much negative attention and in death threats and

29:34 Reading to me it will call me and say that his boss has not got another email or another phone call from some crazy person the community complaining about me. I live in a small town about his wife. Like what do you expect his boss to do?

29:55 This is crazy. It's not 1950. It's so misogynistic and every time I'm introduced anywhere in Prince on the news or in public everyone always introduce me as the wife of the CNO of the hospital.

30:22 Wrote something negative about my sister's business, you know get her to take it down and he wrote back and said, I'm sure you understand. I can't make my wife do anyting has been the you know, going back to you know, how our family Dynamic has changed. I think it's been great as a positive looking for the positive things to see our kids see us step up and fight and fight misinformation and get them involved. We were in Washington for some reason why we are there this is all in the middle of the black lives matter movement in the social justice movements are they had just changed black lives matter and so we went by just to see it and they haven't have a black lives matter protest going on. So we we took our boys mask.

31:22 Parade in it when you see it from overhead. It looks like everyone's close together, but we were all six feet apart and it was such a Nerf wrecking ball meant because

31:35 Trump should just gassed those protesters like a couple days before and Rosa police officers barricades, but I think it was I mean, I hope the boys remember it the rest of their lives because as we were there we had to explain to them what was going on cuz they have no idea their friends. Don't touch the stuff there. It's not in their circles, but we felt it was important at that time, especially historic waited to see that even amidst all that's going on that there are people who are disenfranchised that are that needed someone to help them someone to speak up for them someone to do the right thing.

32:18 And I think that was a really important for them. And the reason I mention that is because we have a black lives matter sign that are our son brought back from DC and he rode around our neighborhood on his bike. What does black lives matter takes on his bike in our neighborhood is literally nothing but Trump Flags, I mean up and down the block city council or something.

32:44 And so to see all the Trump flags and all lives matter and in all of these other hand writing things and had this one kid rolling around his bike with a black lives matter sign and literally having people like they ran into their houses like this shutters.

33:04 When I saw him with the sign.

33:09 I said

33:12 They said terrible things about Biden Feud misinformation that they must have overheard either from their parents for the news about Trump and then they screamed at him get off our property. She wasn't he was in the street propaganda transcribe in children's handwriting. I'm shocked and I mean it again it just got to go back to where what time environment Oregon right now in and where we live in that still very much alive here. It's December 18th today, and I think probably half our population still haven't conceded if I did in fact win the election, so

33:58 Prior to the band about all that the other kind of events that have happened around you that have been you kind of had to live through support and all of that. I'm I'm wondering do with this when you realized it was different and when you realized that, you know, people weren't going to support you and trusting that science cuz those are two different things depend on me cuz its own thing, but then this environment has been created around it where there were moments where you realize that

34:28 I think for me so my my first year at the chief nursing officer has been probably the worst year of any cheap nursing officer Ever So within the first week the first 7 days are Hospital caught on fire and we had to evacuate patients and that was right after I had to leave and Heather. Is that a different Washington DC trip in August of last year. I had to leave Heather and all of our children in Washington DC so I could come back and deal with a surveyor in a hospital fire.

35:01 30 days into my role where the first mobile mass shooting events here in the in the Permian Basin in the first mass shooting event. We've ever had seven dad 25 in and that created a huge Catalyst for the community to come together Permian Basin strong We're All in This Together in the outpouring of support was just amazing.

35:25 And then you fast forward a few months and we are in now, you know, February late February or early March coronavirus has hit, you know Washington State and Oregon is the West Coast area and we start preparing for what if it happens here. What are we going to do? And

35:46 Up until spring break probably.

35:49 Maybe a month after I I'd say probably April issue is when I really started to notice that turned because everyone was terrified of a cobra originally but then the narrative started to kind of strange that we started talking about shutting down businesses locally as we started all of the, you know mandates that we're coming out. That's when we start to see the shift that weight, you know, you're stepping on our personal freedoms, and it was that soon. So I remember like we heard about it on the news and spring break middle of March I could see this coming things are going to be shut down. And so I decided to take one of my sons to Austin you have like one last trip before everything set down. It's very good time. And as soon as we got back, everything is shut down. Nobody went back to school after spring break. If you weren't an essential workers shut down the grocery stores were bare. It was insane and we didn't know what's going on. We hunker down and

36:49 Stay that way until the summer and then like we had had a little teacher but it was really just nursing homes that were hit it was not it was not our community if it hadn't been for that nursing home. We would have had any numbers or any spread.

37:07 Anyway, after that small pic from just nursing homes, then the numbers went down in the summer and everyone felt safe and it was for July and everyone who traveled but the things that turned everything was our mayor and actually Governor Abbott had just issued an executive order saying that we need to be at 50% capacity. There was a mask mandate and our mayor has a financial interest in a local Brewing Company and so about two days after the government did that he stood in front of that business and he said that our city would not be following the governor's executive order.

38:07 Midland is open for business and that if if the government comes after you I've got your back time and then basically said that if you don't like it, you should tell your city council member and so talking to him and that's what led me to speak to city council and and kind of admonish the the mayor of that kind of behavior and and so does Heather and you know, it's again going back to how that's been just changed. We have not been able to come back from that totally change the attitudes and behaviors of the people in our community and there's no going back and we're seeing it now in people that just yesterday, you know, the people that we grew up with our whole lives to change now and starting to repeat some of that same rhetoric and

39:07 Is literally neighbor against that is the hardest thing that I have been through through this whole thing. I mean fostering was was a very close second, but the hardest part about his was realizing I didn't know my friends or family like I thought I did they are not the people. I thought I grew up with are not even like the loving people that we go to church with others and Friends into still be in quarantine, you know, they're missing their friends, but with my friends my my friends and I go to church with that we've been in Mom's clubs and for babies

39:56 This week. I have seen two of them. Go on social media and say let's get her. Let's teach her a lesson.

40:06 I can't believe it. They said will you have to remember that when you took that picture city council with everyone behind you unmasked you know how you made them feel so they have every right to go to your house to protest.

40:31 I want to know how much time left but one question I want to ask you is what will bring you hope what my Louis Louis is losing friends. The greatest thing I have gained is New Friends people that actually I've never met before we are only virtual friend, even though we live in the same town. We've all remain socially distance. So we've never met but we're all in this small little group where we message each other like I say a small it started out small with about seven people and now it's grown to about thirty but

41:11 Just finding people who have the same values that I do and kind hearts and I really look forward to meeting them in person when this is all over I think for me. It's really about the resiliency. I've seen in my nursing staff, you know again being a new leader and a new role. I was really worried followed up Terry beloved leader. So I was worried stepping into that but to see the resilience of my nurses to see that they know that I've got their back and that you and I are quote-unquote power couple now for taking on the Bay Area

41:53 Sammy I think that brings me a lot of Hope is that they they know I've got their back and that gives them enough courage and strength to keep going so you like he has stuck his neck out there for his nurses more than once and the nurses needed that it if they didn't have that they would not go on Spanx.

42:20 Good time now.

42:25 Okay State. Yeah, that's why I lock that down in high school. So but I never thought we'd be who we be back here in our hometown running the hospital and fight in the mirror.

42:48 No, we would have never known this at 16 years old. I love you.