Despite potential hazards, healthcare professionals always maintain a state of calm and readiness for performing emergency tasks during outbreaks without being concerned for their own safety or well-being
At a time when the COVID-19 outbreak has forced most people around the world to hunker down and go into self-isolation, distancing themselves from everyone socially and professionally, there are people who are putting themselves at risk and who are pulling out all stops to fight the pandemic and stall its deathly march across the globe. These soldiers in the war against Coronavirus are the doctors, nurses, paramedics and other healthcare workers who are putting their own lives at risk and fulfilling their duty and moral obligation like true professionals. Acknowledgement of the selfless service that the medical community is providing to people around the world and in India by world leaders and citizens alike, helps to bolster their confidence and motivates them to work with greater zeal.
It was heart-warming to hear all the clapping and ringing of bells and beating of drums and thalis by people across the country on March 22 at the behest of the Prime Minister to acknowledge the yeoman’s service being provided by the media, police, doctors, nurses, other healthcare workers, and so on.
In times like this, when social distancing is becoming imperative, the role of doctors has again come to the fore and it is vital that doctors remain closer than ever before to their patients. Their professional commitment demands that doctors remain at the beck and call of patients.
So, what defines a doctor in these situations? No doubt it is a mix of skills such as leadership, managing uncertainty, problem-solving, risk-taking, professional judgment and a grasp of clinical situations based on a deep understanding of the area of practice. Most importantly, their much-required confidence and assurance of survival to the patients is the most important element.
During the last few decades, we have witnessed many disease outbreaks such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), H1N1 flu virus (Swine Flu) and Nipah virus among others. All these required quick responses from healthcare providers and the whole world have seen how Indian doctors have proved their professionalism, be it on the ground in India or playing a critical role abroad. Our Government places huge faith in its healthcare professionals and keeps sending medical teams abroad as well. Doctors are among the first to observe patients suffering from the attack of a deadly disease, especially as initial signs and symptoms may be subtle or mimic common disorders, prompting victims to contact their primary care physicians.
In its initial stages, a contagion like COVID-19 may not be obvious as healthcare systems sometimes are not fool proof enough due to their limitations and may not always detect suspicious patterns. In the majority of cases, early symptoms are vague and readily mistaken for more common upper respiratory infections such as influenza and staphylococcal enterotoxin B or viral gastroenteritis, which take a heavy toll on a nation’s health.
Depending on the agent and its mode of transmission, the population density and access to healthcare, it can be days or even weeks before anyone can recognise the problem. As early response may be crucial in containing the problem and minimising resultant morbidity and mortality, doctors play a vital role in recording data and developing the response system for later reference. The doctors, therefore, are first to become aware of a problem and are pivotal in initiating and guiding the public health response. It is they, who have to remain vigilant about general trends and patient flow in their clinics and communicate the same to the health authorities to formulate the right strategy at the national level.
In an emergency situation doctors are required to go beyond their routine responsibilities. They have to carry out exhaustive jobs in a stressful environment as witnessed in China, Italy and France which are now the epicentres of disease spread. Despite the potential hazards, healthcare professionals always maintain a state of calm and readiness for fulfilling the planned emergency tasks in these situations without being concerned for their own safety or well-being. Early responders, doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals during these times require protection as well. Since they care for both patients who are suffering from Coronavirus as well as the regular patients, they could inadvertently spread communicable agents rather quickly, especially to vulnerable members of the population. Therefore, in the interest of the nation, it is essential that healthcare professionals adequately protect themselves. In fact, all hospital personnel, including regular employees, volunteers and temporary staff, should follow the highest level of personal protection from infection and other risks to their safety and the same degree of access to occupational health services.
Anxiety among staff confronted with a crisis involving the COVID-19, a highly contagious infectious disease, is to be expected and requires active management through personal protective procedures and psycho-social support.
There is also a chance that the efficiency and effectiveness of hospital staff may be adversely affected by circumstances not necessarily or not directly related to the crisis, such as an illness or a conflict between family and work commitments. During an emergency of this scale, there could also be the need for additional personnel for providing specialised care to meet the likely increase in numbers of patients seeking admission to the hospital. Arrangements must be made to meet such eventualities so that there is enough time for the healthcare professionals to rest and re-energise. Provisions for requisitions have to be made to the armed forces for getting their personnel to meet emergency situations.
In these trying times when most of us want to stay within our comfort zones to beat the Coronavirus, health professionals are putting their armour on and attacking it with full force. Let us give more power to these heroes who will eventually save the world.
(The writer is Chief Clinical Officer, Clove Dental