Stories Of Medical Workers Overwhelmed With COVID-19 Patients Exploding, So Tired And Stealing Sleep

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KEDIRI - The onslaught of COVID-19 patients in the city of Kediri, East Java, which is getting higher and higher, makes medical personnel have to fight extra hard. No doubt the accumulation of patients is increasingly stressful for health workers.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 patients have come and gone. Not only residents of the City of Kediri. Many patients from outside the city are also referred for treatment at this hospital.

Gambiran Hospital in Kediri City is one of several referral hospitals for COVID-19 patients. This hospital treats patients with severe symptoms.

The rhythm of cases that goes up and down still makes medical personnel have to keep doing their job. Patients may change, but medical personnel is those assigned.

Health workers at the Gambiran Hospital, Kediri City, are now starting to get tired following COVID-19 patients who have started to rise again in recent times.

This is because patients come and go until there is a buildup. This condition makes medical personnel have to fight extra hard.

"Patients don't stop coming, finally there is a buildup in the Emergency Room. That's what makes us stressed. Patients who came first didn't get a room, there are already new patients", said Head of the Emergency Room at Gambiran Hospital, Kediri City, Gigih, quoted by Antara, Thursday, July 1.

In terms of capacity, in the Emergency Installation (IGD) Gambiran Hospital, Kediri City, there are only 18 beds available. However, since the surge in COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks, the number of patients who come is no less than 30 people every day.

The management of Gambiran Hospital in Kediri City has actually increased the number of health workers to treat patients.

In fact, they are still overwhelmed. Currently, no less than 34 nurses and midwives, as well as 20 doctors have been alerted. They work in shifts at this COVID-19 referral hospital.

Not without the risk of the medical personnel working. Caring for patients is not impossible to make them exposed. That's because the transmission of COVID-19 is fast.

For Gigih, being exposed to the disease is a risk that cannot be ignored. Hospitals are places to treat people with various illnesses, including COVID-19.

"On the one hand, we have to serve patients well. On the other hand, we also take care not to be exposed. One medical worker means a lot in a situation like this, don't let anyone get sick", said Gigih.

Patients who come to the hospital also have a variety of conditions. Some are sick with mild to severe symptoms. Most of them have symptoms of cough, loss of sense of smell, to shortness of breath with low oxygen saturation.

Oxygen saturation or oxygen levels of the patients also varied. However, in recent times, the patient's saturation is not good, below 90 with a respiratory rate of more than 30.

Not without the burden of dealing with patients with such symptoms. As medical personnel, it is their duty to ensure that patients who come are well cared for and even survive.

If you find a patient with a bad condition, what medical personnel can do is try to strengthen each other.

Steal sleep

The onslaught of COVID-19 patients continues to arrive until now. It also makes medical personnel have to fight extra. Feeling tired and tired also makes the body drop.

If this is the case, what medical personnel does is give each other a chance to rest if they really can't work anymore.

Yes, the body must rest if the feeling of fatigue is unbearable. Only with rest will stamina recover.

Being a medical worker must be able to take care of yourself and others. The treatment of COVID-19 patients has a fairly strict standard operating procedure (SOP).

They must wear layers of personal protective equipment (PPE). This makes the body hot and sweaty.

In addition, to prevent transmission of the virus to others, patients who come and are isolated must also not be accompanied by family members, so that all patient needs are served by medical personnel, such as feeding themselves to cleaning themselves.

If tired and sleepy can no longer be tolerated, the medical personnel often steal opportunities to sleep at the table or hide in the large emergency room cupboard.

"In the ER there is a big cupboard, we hid inside. We took the time to sit or just lean back. Sometimes we didn't feel like falling asleep for a while. Tired, we were very tired", said Gigih.

In the midst of enormous physical and psychological stress, they often face requests from the patient's family that are against the rules. Also, accusations of 'deliberately COVID-19' from the patient's family made their spirits down.

Director of Gambiran Hospital, Kediri, Doctor Fauzan Adima, explained that the stigma is undeniably still growing in the community. Different understandings about Covid 19 make people often underestimate the existence of this dangerous virus.

However, Fauzan, who is also the Head of the Kediri City Health Office, emphasized that his party still adhered to the standards for handling COVID-19 patients.

It was from the results of the patient's examination. The medical team also used a swab test to check whether they were exposed to COVID-19 or not.

"If it shows that there is a virus from the results of laboratory tests, then we call it COVID-19. If not, no. If we may hope, we want all patients who come to the hospital to be negative, not exposed. The officers are very tired," he said.

Fauzan also hopes that the public will not discredit medical personnel if the services provided are not pleasing. However, Gambiran Hospital will still accept input and suggestions if they are submitted politely.

"They have families, they are also at risk. Not necessarily they are strong, hopefully, people will understand", Fauzan hoped.

He asked the public to understand this situation and help by implementing health protocols.