Long duty hours, maintaining a safe distance from family has been Dr. Dipshikha Ghosh’s routine

For Dr. Dipshika Ghosh, talking to family members over video calls and attending to embrace them solely after making certain that she has examined detrimental for the COVID-19 check has develop into a routine over the previous yr.

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Since the pandemic started, Dr. Ghosh, like a number of different healthcare employees, has grappled with lengthy duty hours and maintaining a safe distance from family members to make sure their security.

“Since the pandemic began, all I do is go to the hospital and come back. I have not done anything else apart from maybe going to the grocery store at times. I do not let any of my family member go anywhere as I am already exposed due to my work,” she mentioned.

The 32-year-old physician who works on the Apollo Hospital in Kolkata mentioned, “In the past year, I got tested five to six times. It was only after I tested negative did I go and hug my family members. I mostly speak to them over video calls or phone calls. I have the privilege to isolate completely and live on a separate floor. So I distanced myself since the pandemic began.”

On days when she doesn’t order in, her meals is left midway on the staircase from the place she picks it up as soon as the family members have left, Dr. Ghosh mentioned.

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“I do not sit with them or eat with them. Even if I have to at times, I always have my mask on and am really far from them. They usually keep my food in boxes which I clean later and keep it at the same spot the next day.”

With the second wave hitting the nation and due to her duty within the COVID-ICU, family members at the moment are doubly scared about her contracting the virus, she mentioned.

48-60 work hours a week

“I work in the critical care unit so I only see the very sick patients. The entire ICU unit has been divided into two teams which alternate between COVID and non-COVID ICU duty, according to the roster. We work anywhere between 48-60 hours a week apart from the extra shifts if we are required to do. The COVID shifts are eight hours long and once we wear our PPE kits we do not drink water, eat or go to the washrooms. We do not come out at all,” defined Dr. Ghosh.

From initially being apprehensive in regards to the illness when it hit, to taking a look at different nations with a view to get an thought on the plan of action to be adopted, to gaining a semblance of management solely to lose it to the second wave, it had been an exhausting journey, she mentioned.

“While initially we were apprehensive, we looked at other countries to get an idea and slowly developed certain things. Towards the end of last year, when the cases dipped a little we thought maybe there is some semblance of control and thought maybe we will also be able to put out videos like New Zealand did. But once things started opening up, people simply forgot that the coronavirus ever existed. When people started visiting all kinds of places without properly masking up or masks hanging from their chins, we knew that COVID would creep up again,” mentioned Dr. Ghosh.

Breaking level

Healthcare employees have all the time handled troublesome conditions together with breaking the information of a affected person’s loss of life to the family members, however not at this scale, she rued.

“We do deal with a lot of these situations and have done it before the pandemic as well but not at this scale. To see people not making it, is very difficult. Mentally and physically many people are past the breaking point but we are somehow trudging along.”

With respect to what lies forward so far as the COVID-19 pandemic was involved, Dr. Ghosh mentioned, “There needs to be a massive shift in how people look at public health. You are being asked to mask up because we do not know enough about the disease. The concept somehow has to be driven to the people that public health measure is of utmost importance.”

“The medical system is massively under-financed and nowhere close to providing the quality healthcare that is required. Several times there are certain things we want to do but either don’t have the infrastructure or resources. People in positions of power who can take decisions need to strengthen this pillar,” mentioned Dr. Ghosh.