After a year-and-a-half of dealing with the pandemic, frontline health workers are opting for a more humane and gentle way of dealing with Covid patients
Recently, a doctor in a top hospital in Mumbai found himself rushing to the emergency ward to see a Covid patient. Since the doctor was in a hurry, he chose to go in without wearing the personal protective equipment (PPE), and was surprised to find the effect it had on all the patients in the ward. “A 40-year-old patient called me aside just to express his happiness at being able to see my face,” says Dr Jeenam Shah, consultant pulmonologist at Bhatia Hospital. “He held my hand and said, ‘Doctor sir, this is the first time I am getting to see how you look. I can’t tell you how happy this makes me feel’.”
For healthcare workers, wearing the PPE, while attending to Covid-19 patients, is essential. The kit, which includes a head-to-toe synthetic clothing article along with items such as safety helmets, gloves, eye protection, safety footwear and safety harnesses, is considered their “first line of protection” against the highly infectious disease. But with a year-and-a-half on in fighting Covid-19 from the frontline, doctors are now not only on the brink of mental and physical exhaustion, they are also tired of not being able to treat their patients face-to-face. An increasing number of them in Mumbai are ditching their PPE kits and wading into Covid wards, having fully assessed the risks it poses to them, in order to opt for a more humane and gentle way in beating the disease.
For healthcare workers, wearing the PPE, while attending to Covid-19 patients, is essential. The kit, which includes a head-to-toe synthetic clothing article along with items such as safety helmets, gloves, eye protection, safety footwear and safety harnesses, is considered their “first line of protection” against the highly infectious disease. But with a year-and-a-half on in fighting Covid-19 from the frontline, doctors are now not only on the brink of mental and physical exhaustion, they are also tired of not being able to treat their patients face-to-face. An increasing number of them in Mumbai are ditching their PPE kits and wading into Covid wards, having fully assessed the risks it poses to them, in order to opt for a more humane and gentle way in beating the disease.