Healthcare workers in Puducherry battle hard to provide best care to COVID-19 patients

Long hours in PPE continues to remain the hardest part when it comes to treating patients, doctors and nurses say

Treating protocols for COVID-19 patients have become the new normal for the healthcare workers of the Union Territory (UT), as they battle hard to provide the best possible care for virus-affected patients admitted to hospitals and those under home quarantine.

For the first two months after the pandemic hit the country, the UT was more or less insulated from the virus spread, with only a handful of cases reported in Puducherry and the Mahe enclave.

“We thought we would not be much affected by the virus spread, but all of a sudden, numbers started growing in May and there were apprehensions among healthcare workers in attending to the patients,” said Director of Health and Family Welfare Services, S. Mohan Kumar.

When the cases started suddenly increasing, there were inhibitions among the medical community in attending to patients as the virus was new, according to K. Bhuvaneswari, Associate Professor of Medicine, Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Research Institute (IGGMC). “Initially, it was scary, as there was a lot of bad news appearing about the virus. Our children and family members were also worried and we had to take a lot of care while returning home. Though we still continue to take personal precautions while at the workplace or at home, the inhibitions in treating patients have completely gone. It has become a routine job,” she said.

Children and family members of healthcare workers too, have adjusted to the new normal, she said, adding that everyone had come to an understanding that it would be a long battle with the virus.

Agreeing with her colleague, B. Kavitha, Associate Professor, general medicine at IGGMC, said, “When we were asked to manage COVID-19 cases initially, we were obviously alarmed and unprepared as the nature of the complication, mode and duration of spread were not clear. It was all new for us. But with proper guidelines, we were able to manage the patients.”

The most difficult part in treating patients even now, is the long hours of wearing gowns, head covers and gloves to protect ourselves from the virus, they said. “As the cases started increasing, we used to wear the protective kits for several hours without even taking water, food or a toilet break,” said Dr Bhuvaneswari.

“Most days I return home exhausted due to severe dehydration caused by the synthetic PPE kits. We are not advised to drink water,” said Dr. Kavitha.

Several staff have fallen unconscious after they felt uneasy due to long hours of wearing the protective kits, said a nurse at IGGMC. She said the huge shortage in nursing staff had placed lots of difficulty on the nurses. Only now, new appointments have been made, she added.

Also, the treatment process has become more automated with even blood pressure being monitored through machines. With protective gear all over the body, it has become a difficult task to auscultate (examining the patients by listening to sounds from the heart and other organs by using a stethoscope) patients, said Dr. Bhuvaneswari.

According to Medical Officer, Public Health Centre (PHC), Kirumampakkam, D. Narayanan treatment of the virus had certainly brought additional stress to the doctors and paramedical staff. PHCs in both urban and rural areas have started witnessing a surge in the number of people coming in for non-COVID-19 medical treatment, especially after private clinics started placing restrictions on seeing patients.

“Normally, we used to get 200 to 300 patients at the PHCs. But in the last two months, the number of patients coming to centres has increased substantially,” he said.

But all the efforts to contain the spread, he said would have their desired results only when people started heeding the advisories issued by the government.

Acknowledging the hard work put in by the healthcare workers, Mr. Kumar said the Chief Minister and Health Minister have agreed to “suitably” recognise their COVID-19 work. “All will be suitably rewarded. In fact the Chief Minister was willing to honour all on August 15 itself, but later decided to make the announcement in January. The government is fully behind the field-level healthcare workers. Exceptional work put in by some will be recognised suitably,” he added.