Scientific American The pandemic has put the region’s emergency personnel under extraordinary strain Advertisement Mark Selapack could probably use a break. Stranded for a time aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship in March while he worked to transfer COVID patients, deployed to wildfires up and down California, and sent to skilled nursing facilities to provide badly needed patient care, the San Diego–based paramedic was not home for 160 days in 2020. Then the calendar turned over—and the pace, and need, only accelerated. “It’s a little bit exhausting, but definitely rewarding for those we do help out ” Selapack said during a recent shift in Imperial County, where staffing shortages had created a mini-emergency of its own. Of his fellow medics, he said, “You can see it’s taking its toll on them. They’re tired. They’re also getting sick