Creative writing<br />TOPIC -<br />How to be practical during the covid-19 crisis<br />Word limit 100
Answers
I tried my best not to have any pre-existing ideas about what it would be like working from a COVID-19 ward, especially assisting in the care of the patients, but the very first thing I saw when entering the ward was a patient in a body bag who had sadly passed away. This immediately gave me a sense of urgency about what it was that I had gotten myself into. It also caused one of my teammates to feel high levels of anxiety, however, this helped me deal with my own anxiety, as my main focus became helping that individual and reassuring them.
The first shift was difficult. There was no formal training involved, other than a tour of the base, parts of the equipment and a brief explanation. We just had to know how to use the appropriate PPE and when to dispose of it correctly. We also spent an hour after every patient deep cleaning the ambulance to prevent the spread of infection. My first transfer was to assist in the evacuation of one of the hospitals, due to a lack of oxygen.
The other two single crewed ambulances and I were deployed and we did what we could in terms of evacuating the hospital safely, but it wasn’t just a lack of time that was stressful, it was also the lack of equipment in terms of navigation systems, as they were unfortunately outdated and often would send us in the wrong direction. I had to use my phone’s navigation system on the majority of journeys. Control(ICU at our base of operations) were also not giving the most effective information so we weren’t always 100% sure where we had to be and how to get there. I changed this and created set questions that needed answering when giving us the details of a transfer, which worked better.
Everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses should be followed, these include:
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available.