Angelo Mascia, left, with his fellow WeDGE members Dan Trauger, David Kimmelman, Derek Stoltenberg, and Rob Worrell in the days before social distancing. Courtesy photo

The term “hero” has taken on new meaning these days. Some say it’s the woman delivering your order from Amazon or the guy knocking on your door with a hot pizza.

Well, how about an emergency room doctor in New York City who saves lives for a living? One who also happens to be a co-founder and leader of a successful, active disc golf club, the Westchester Disc Golf Enthusiasts (WeDGE)?

Angelo Mascia, 31, works the night shift as an emergency room doctor at a large hospital in the South Bronx, New York. The hospital is a level-one adult trauma center. I learned about Dr. Mascia, really, by accident. We were talking about his club, WeDGE (not him) because that will be the active, very cool disc golf club we honor in the upcoming Summer issue of DiscGolfer Magazine. He was telling me about their club, and out of curiosity, I asked him what he did for a living.

When Angelo told me he was an ER doctor in The Bronx, well, that kind of got my attention. So, we set up a better time for a phone interview — April 13, his day off. Dr. Mascia's story blew me away and I wanted people to hear the story of one guy in the trenches dealing with the COVID-19 onslaught. He was not tooting his horn at all, period. He wanted to talk about WeDGE more than himself, a self-effacing young doctor considering he’s saving lives for a living, as you will see in the interview.

Stay healthy, people. Skip the course and enjoy our chat.

Joe Feidt: Before we get started, thank you for your service in these hard times, Angelo. How long have you been working in your hospital’s ER?

Angelo Mascia: Four years now.

JF: I feel anxiety when I go to the supermarket for 10 minutes. Are you fearful going to work, and how do you deal with it?

AM: Going to work is absolutely frightening. Even though you're protected with equipment, mistakes can happen. Disease can linger on surfaces and areas around the hospital and it's easy to infect yourself. Dealing with it is all about precaution and being conscious of good hand-hygiene and PPE [personal protective equipment] practices. It also includes things like wiping down frequently-used surfaces and equipment, frequent hand sanitizing and not touching your face. 

JF: What shift are you working this week?

AM: I’m working the night shift that starts at 7 p.m.

JF: How many days are you working during the week, and how many hours per day?

AM: Before COVID, it was three-to-four days a week. Now it’s about five-to-six days a week. It’s a 12-hour shift: 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

JF: What is your ER like? Where do you work in it?

AM: Our ER is divided into four zones: Three are COVID zones and one is non-COVID, but we have to be careful in that area because some of them are infected and don’t know it. I work in any of the four zones on a given day, pretty much wherever I’m needed.

JF: What do you do to deal with what I assume is chaos in the ER during the peak of the pandemic?

AM: It’s a very difficult environment now. It’s mind-boggling. It’s not that there are so many more critically ill patients — the numbers are up some — but it’s the acuity, the severity of the illnesses we see. When people come in here they are so much sicker than what we were used to seeing before COVID.

JF: How is your hospital handling the increased patient load?

AM: The hospital has opened up non-patient areas to allow for more patients. Capacity has been expanded greatly. We feel we’re ready if the pandemic continues to grow here.

JF: Are you seeing a reduced number of admissions? Do you think the curve is flattening?

AM: In New York, it seems like the disease has started to plateau. We continue to see a rise in infections, however it appears the number of ICU admissions and ventilated patients has begun to plateau for the time being. I feel New York did a good job of starting strict social distancing measures early to limit disease spread. 

JF: You obviously work in a high-stress environment during normal times. How much more stress do you feel now?

AM: It’s very stressful. We see so many sick people, and many have passed away. Because the disease is so transmissible, we don’t allow visitors, so the patients are isolated from their family and friends. We have to relay information to their loved ones over the phone. It’s hard to tell them that you tried everything but you couldn’t save them.

JF: I’ve heard that some doctors and nurses are using disposable masks and gowns for the entire shift. How difficult has it been getting enough PPE?

AM: Our hospital has been very good at procuring PPE. We have a plentiful supply and are not in dire straits like some other hospitals.

JF: Do you wear an N95 mask at work? How about when you have to go to the store?  

AM: At work I wear a 3M half respirator with P100 filters. I found it more comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. When I'm out in public I just wear a regular surgical mask or face covering. N95s shouldn't be necessary in the general public. 

JF: How about testing kits at your hospital?

AM: We only currently test patients that require hospital admission. Across the country, there are people developing rapid assays for the disease which should drastically cut down on the turnaround time from 48-to-72 hours to minutes.

JF: What are your feelings on the supposed anti-COVID drug hydroxychloroquine?

AM: The data for this drug are not sufficient yet. There are a lot of pharmaceuticals with good theoretical benefits. However, being this a new disease that we're facing, it's going to take a while before good science can catch up and provide us with adequate answers. 

JF: What has it been like seeing your colleagues falling ill?

AM: It’s tough. We do everything we can do protect ourselves, but young people like me are getting it, too. We’re told if we’re not feeling well, do not come in to work. We have very good support here, and our ER team is looking out for each other mainly so we can stay healthy and keep working. 

JF: What have been the most challenging things for you personally during the outbreak?

AM: For me, relaying bad news over the phone and not having family members with the patients when they pass away. That’s been very hard to deal with for all of us in the ER.

JF: I have heard ER workers under normal working conditions do not feel especially appreciated. Do you and your colleagues feel appreciated now? Do you feel the love?

AM: We do feel the love. You may have heard at 7 p.m. every day, people clap and cheer all over the city for essential workers like us. I get to work before seven, so I don’t hear it personally, but my colleagues do and it definitely does make us feel good. We work in an environment and in a part of the city that can be difficult. Our hospital sees a lot of serious cases in the best of times, and now it’s much worse, of course.

JF: Anything you know about the virus from your firsthand experience that we might not know from watching the news?

AM: Overall the news has done a decent job at relaying what we actually know about the virus. Certainly, depending on your source of news information, [that] can be skewed, but it’s a new, lethal, highly-infectious disease that appears to primarily attack the respiratory system. As time passes and we're able to study the intricacies a little better, we may learn some new information. 

JF: Segueing to our favorite game, how and when did you get introduced to disc golf?

AM: I graduated from high school in 2007. Me and a buddy used to play Mt. Kisco, and I went to college at SUNY Albany. I played ultimate there and started playing more disc golf. The club in Albany, DisCap, is huge and well-organized, and they were very welcoming. They oversee a bunch of courses. That’s when I really started getting into it.

JF: What is your role in Westchester Disc Golf Enthusiasts (WeDGE)? How did your club get started?

AM: I’m one of the founding members. I saw how organized DisCap was and wanted to model our club after that one. We went and asked some of the old guard — guys like Bill Newman and Jack Bradley who have been playing and organizing here for decades — if they would support us starting up a new club. They were very supportive and helped us get off the ground. We’ve grown steadily, from a few players seven years ago to 200-to-250 today. We tend to sell out our bag tags quickly. My role in the club now is lost-and-found guy. I’ve got about 100 discs that I want to get back to people, but that will have to wait.

JF: How much were you playing before COVID-19 struck?

AM: Before the outbreak I was playing three-to-four days a week, often on my days off, but not once since March 14. We were one of the first clubs to shut down everything. We canceled leagues, everything. The other clubs followed our lead, and I’m proud of that.

JF: Your thoughts when you hear about people who are still playing disc golf despite the warnings?

AM: I don’t think anybody should be playing now. I’m like other disc golfers — I want to play, too — but this disease is too dangerous, too transmissible and there are so many unknown variables. How long does the virus stay active on the basket or on discs? Who transmits it? The risk of playing is simply too great. We need to stop for the common good. 

JF: What message would you like to send to disc golfers?

AM: Skip the course. Do not play in groups of any size. Social distancing is too variable when you’re playing. Because there are so many asymptomatic carriers, you don’t know if the person you’re playing with, who looks totally healthy, is actually infected. The disease is so dangerous and risk of infection is too great. Just practice putting in the backyard until it’s safe to play again. Courses are being pulled in various places because people keep playing even though the course is closed. Once a course is pulled, there’s no guarantee it will re-open.

JF: When do you think social distancing will ease enough for us to get back to our normal lives, when we can play disc golf again?

AM: That's a really hard one to answer. It all depends on how we do as a society in following strict guidelines to limit spread of disease. The answer is dependent upon a multitude of factors, both from an individual and governmental perspective, such as adherence to guidelines, government relaxation of social distancing guidelines, and so on. I’m hopeful things will begin to make a turn toward normalcy in June of this year. 

JF: What’s the biggest myth related to COVID from your perspective?

AM: That it only affects older people. I have seen so many young people in our ER who were healthy a few days ago, with no history of respiratory illness, get very sick and end up in our ER struggling to live. 

JF: What do you do to relax when you get home? Are you isolating alone or with your family?

AM: I live with my girlfriend. We see only each other, not even family members. We are self-isolating. I haven’t seen my family in over a month and they live right down the street.

JF: How do you sanitize yourself before going home?

AM: When I go to work I change into hospital scrubs in a "cold zone." Before leaving work I change back into my home clothes. When I arrive home I immediately get into the shower and place those clothes by the door in a separate area and try to wash them immediately. 

JF: How much do you miss seeing your fellow WeDGE members?

AM: I absolutely miss my fellow WeDGE members. We have an excellent community and typically run events six days a week. It's a nice outlet to be able to hang with some great people and play disc golf. I can't wait to get back to it! Be patient, people. 

JF: On behalf of all of us at the PDGA — and disc golfers everywhere — thank you so much for your service in this pandemic. Stay healthy, Angelo.

DiscGolfer Magazine Assistant Editor Billy Bloom contributed to this article.