The Fallen Warrior
Not all wars are fought on the battlefield, some are fought in hospitals and these soldiers wear PPE suits.
To treat the ill to the best of one’s ability, and to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation. This is the oath every doctor is required to take. But with Covid-19 ramping up in April of 2020, there was no prior knowledge about the virus. The war had just begun, and the soldiers were brought in blindfolded, dealing with an unknown enemy.
PPE suits, N95 masks, gloves, sanitizers, till now medical jargon suddenly was the byword for everyone. With Covid-19 shifting from an epidemic to a pandemic, all doctors irrespective of the departments were now put on Covid duty. This led to an increased workload as they now had not only their own patients but also the Covid patients. Prior to the pandemic, doctors would push themselves even in sickness, neglecting their own health. But in this case, they couldn’t afford to get sick. With the medical community being in contact with the Covid-positive patients, they were more susceptible to falling prey to the virus themselves. The outbreak saw an acute shortage of N95’s and PPE suits. To make up for this shortage, doctors and nurses wore PPE suits for hours together, resisting the need to drink water or attend nature’s call. To keep the virus from spreading through AC vents, all air conditioning units had been turned off. The layered PPE suits added more heat. Health care professionals feared going home, not only for the safety of their family but also due to the restrictions imposed by many housing societies on their entry.
With every new case that turned up, they had to treat it like it was their first. With every worker that got sick, the workload doubled. They had to read up every day on the new happenings and medical research being conducted regarding the virus to keep abreast of the treatment to be followed. The nursing staff were the ones who were affected the most. They were the ones who were most with the patient, taking the brunt of the exposure. Sanitation workers, often invisible, we're the ones cleaning every single surface risking their health. These were the unsung heroes.
Early on in April 2020, the healthcare frontline workers, from nurses to the janitors, everyone who worked in a hospital was hailed as heroes. Doctors were regarded as superhumans. Invincible. With the ever-increasing cases, and people succumbing to the virus coupled with the lack of public health infrastructure, doctors were no longer considered a hero. People needed somebody to blame. The medical community was an easy target. They not only had to save lives but fight the innumerable superstition and medical advice being doled out by the ‘WhatsApp University’. The job of educating the general public on social distancing and wearing a mask also fell on to the doctors.
There was another factor they had to fight, the media. When the hospitals were beyond full, the only option was to treat patients on stretchers in hospital lobbies. While this was an attempt to save the patient, the media showed it in a light that was not flattering. With the general public glued to the TV screens, the only thing they saw was the alleged maltreatment of patients. The broader picture, that of lives being saved became lost.
By the end of 2020, there was a decline in cases. Everybody thought the tide had turned. The doctors heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed like the only thing to do now was take proper precautions and wait for the vaccines to roll out. But it was not to be. The second wave hit with a far higher intensity than the first one. The virus had now mutated, and the doctors had to go through a learning path all over again. The rate of infection was phenomenally high. Oxygen levels of the infected patients dropped drastically which led to oxygen scarcity. Majority of the patients now required ICU beds. Doctors were faced with the dilemma as to shift whom to the ICU. With more and more caseloads and doctors also succumbing to the infection, now there was a scarcity of doctors. Final year medical students and retired doctors were roped in into Covid duty. The workload of the doctors also increased because of the teleconsultations they had to give to positive patients who couldn’t get hospital beds.
Covid was not only physically brutal but mentally exhausting too. It is considered taboo for medical professionals to show vulnerability. Doctors are used to seeing deaths in their profession, but this was over and beyond the mental capacity of a doctor. Dealing with the virus on an everyday basis when they must hold mobile screens so that patients can say goodbye to their families has exposed the emotions of a doctor too. Patients looked towards doctors for solace and consolation, but doctors don’t have any shoulder to cry on.
Reflecting on the past few months, medical professionals have experienced huge performance pressure as well as increased psychiatric outcomes due to excess workload, and frustration from failure to provide optimal patient care. In a country like India, where the population is high, hospitals may run out of fundamental lifesaving medications, and sometimes doctors can do nothing but watch their patients suffer and die. For people who are in the business of saving and curing people, this was the greatest failure and punishment.
If all this wasn’t enough, they also had to deal with violence. There were instances where people turned violent when they were refused beds due to the hospitals being full. And the victims were the healthcare workers. They were verbally assaulted, threatened telephonically and even beaten up. The effects of violent episodes, extend longer than the experience itself. The news agencies have painted a tarnished image of doctors as money-making machines. A news headline saying ‘Negligent and Inconsiderate doctors’ instead of ‘Overworked doctors’ would sell more. This has affected the morale of doctors. Living in an atmosphere filled with negativity, and loss of control, they only have each other to vent to and cry on.
This is a war being fought by doctors physically and mentally. If this war has to be won, it cannot be only due to the efforts of healthcare warriors. Each and every individual also needs to fight this war. We can win this war by adhering to social distancing norms, wearing masks properly, and getting vaccinated. In the words of Taylor Swift, “with you I serve, I fall down.”
Let us pledge to make this happen and the second half of 2021 to be a virus-free world.
