NEW DELHI: It’s been a year since the lockdown. The national capital, too, from the beginning remained one of the leading cities in terms of Covid-19 cases. But healthcare and frontline workers of the city gave their blood and sweat to assure that citizens did not lose the battle with the virus. The Morning Standard speaks to some of the workers who led from the front, spent hours treating patients, got infected themselves but bravely overcame the odds.
Excerpts: Dr Niraj Nischal, working in the medicine department at AIIMS has been deputed in Covid-19 duty for the past 10 months now. After serving for over seven years at the premier hospital he has dealt with thousands of patients but according to him, handling the ones admitted in corona wards was very different. “Here the patients are all alone, away from the family members. Only healthcare workers like us were family members.
Not only, we had to treat but also take care of their mental and emotional support as well. From that perspective, we tried to be extra patient with them, that too wearing PPE kits. Seeing a patient unable to see family, just made me realize how lonely they must be,” said Dr Nischal. The last one year had been an emotionally roller-coaster ride for him. While being on duty, he too tested positive for Coronavirus. And so rest of his family members including wife, children, he said.
“As a doctor I used to console everyone. No matter how much we are out there treating patients, but when it is about your own family, things become scary. A sense of panic had prevailed. It was challenging for myself to keep calm and ensure that everyone in the family fought the disease without any complication,” he recollected. Not much different is Rajni’s story who has been a nurse at the Max Hospital, Saket. Several thoughts raced through her when the hospital was converted into a Covid treatment facility and she was deputed in corona duties.
Rajni working as an acting team leader, she is also a Covid-19 survivor. “I was scared of the disease. But as it is said the show must go on, and being a health care worker, it is my responsibility to serve people and the patients, I took it up in a positive way,” she told the correspondent. In May last year, after being assigned Covid duty, she informed her family. “The first response from my parents was to leave the job and return back home, but somehow I convinced them. I did work hard and remained dedicated as well to give best services to Covid patients,” Rajni, who has been working at the hospital for more than three years now. Although, initially wearing PPE kits for long hours was problematic, later her body accepted the challenge of remaining inside those suits for 6-8 hours, she added.
For both Dr Pratibha Mittal and Dr Parv Mittal, last one year was totally unexpected and challenging. The couple, working with Delhi government- run largest Covid-19 facility Lok Nayak Hospital, were assigned in the corona duty wards. As healthcare workers there were many initial challenges for them. “Firstly it was ‘fear of the unknown.’ There was no medical history on how this virus would behave and what would be the complications. There was a shortage of good quality PPE kits and masks, there was improper segregation of Covid wards and fear of mixing patients.
The news was of Italy being overwhelmed with Covid patients who were dying on the streets due to overflowing hospitals... those were scarier times,” recollected Dr Parv (31), who is in the Orthopedics department. For Dr Pratibha, who works in the obstetrics and gynaecology department, conducting deliveries and Caesarean section surgeries for the covid positive mothers wearing PPE suits was the toughest phase in her life.“Fogging of the face shield, extreme exhaustion and heat and fatigue were common. One of the doctors even collapsed in the operating room due to the exhaustion.
The biggest source of infection was while taking off the PPE which is a long and meticulous process, which takes 30 minutes if done properly. Due to fatigue, most of the doctors would just rush through this process and contract the disease,” noted the 30-year-old gynaecologist. Convincing family to allow him to join as a frontline worker was initially difficult for 30-year-old Asif Ali.
But seeing him in full protective gear gave them assurance. “I have been working as a paramedic for six years and associated with the ambulance Covid team in Max Hospital, Saket. At first my family wasn’t comfortable with me joining the fight against Covid-19. But when they saw the pictures of my protective gear they understood that I am protected enough,” said Asif, supervisor -Emergency Medical technician, adding that his parents were extremely proud of him. Read full story on www. thenewindianexpress.com
