In race against time, front-line workers in PPE kits brave skin infections, dehydration
JAIPUR: Covered in a PPE kit on a hot day, every minute of duty at a Covid-19 centre tests the endurance of front-line workers.
Many have developed an infection that intensifies every time their skin rubs against the protective gear. But dehydration is a major menace. Drinking water is impossible because hands cannot be raised anywhere near the face. And a small mistake in safety raises the risk of contracting the virus.
All through the dark months of this summer, the front line is held together by nurses, lab technicians and ambulances drivers who say that they are in a race against time to slow down the pandemic.
“There is an eight-hour-long shift. Once we step into PPE kits, we can’t take water or go to the washroom as it jeopardises the safety protocol,” said Vijay Laxmi, a nurse posted at the Covid-19 centre of RUHS (Rajasthan University of Health Sciences).
Despite all the hardships, Vijay Laxmi said she has never been so proud in her career spanning two decades. “I have seen my senior toiling hard in giving care to patients before he too succumbed to the same illbattling ness. It has instilled in me more persistence than fear,” she said, adding that blessings from elderly citizens remain a source of everlasting confidence.
Laxmi said she only drinks water once before she attends her duty, and eats only when she arrives home.
His speech is slowed down by the illness, but Saurabh Lawaniya’s mind keeps drifting back to the thought that his absence may lead to some delay in the lab where he has been conducting RT-PCR tests for over a year now.
“Once I wear a PPE kit, I quickly banish any other thought. I have to diligently complete all testing protocols. Even a minor breach in safety norm can lead to a perilous outcome,” he said, adding that his body is now so attuned to the work that in an eight-hour shift he no longer feels like drinking water or going to the washroom.
“The conditions under which we conduct tests are difficult because wearing a PPE kit on a hot day leads to skin irritation and breathing becomes arduous too,” he said, adding the mind has to be completely engaged with machines and lab procedure so that any reminder of thrust and skin pain doesn’t linger around.
Jitendra Singh, head of the lab technicians’ association, said that his colleagues have been these problems to keep the front line intact. “Testing is the first line of defence. And lab technicians also have to deal with distraught families with much care and empathy as for them it is a frightening experience.”
The same holds true for Hari Narayan Mehchana. A resident of Jahajpur near Bhilwara, he has been plying ambulance for the past one year.
Mehchana, who is undergoing home isolation after he tested positive two weeks ago, said he has never witnessed suffering at such a scale.
“I have been driving ambulances for the past five years during which I took a lot of traffic accident cases to the hospital. But I have never faced a situation like this,” he said, mentioning a case where an elderly man, who while getting into the ambulance kept a brave face in front of his worried family but broke down once doors of the ambulance were shut.
“I ferried the body of a very young college student who had an asthama and later died of Covid complications. When his body was taken to the cremation ground, his mother fell to the ground wailing. There was hardly anyone who could help her, it was a very lonely death and I felt very helpless,” he said.