ICU employee sends message in Covid song
A GOREY ICU Clinical Instructor and her husband have come together to release a debut song that honours frontline workers during the Covid-19 crisis. Both the song and music video have already received praise from thousands across the world.
Martina Jensen, who is working at the Beacon Hospital Dublin during the pandemic, said that the lyrics she wrote for ‘A War Against the World’ are authentic given what she has experienced during the most challenging time in her career.
‘Covid-19 is a really gruesome illness and it’s something that people need to have great respect for,’ she said, before urging people to be aware and take care.
‘I’m in Gorey town and I see so many people walking around and they are ill-informed in a way. They might be listening to all the media but they really need to take it in. They don’t realise the gravity, unless you see someone who is struggling for breath beside you, you just don’t realise’.
GOREY couple Lasse and Martina Jensen have come together to create a debut song that honours front line workers during the Covid-19 crisis and both the song and music video have already received praise from thousands across the world.
Found on streaming sites like Spotify and YouTube, the heartfelt lyrics to ‘A War Against The World’ were written by ICU Clinical Instructor Martina, with music and composition by her husband Lasse performed at his studio based at their home in Kilanerin.
The vocals are performed by Ben Rodgers which add to the melodic metal sounds and this is the first release from the new project, aptly named Kilanerin, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some of the lyrics include ‘Stuck in our homes alone, just be strong’ and ‘Our freedom is taken, we’re so close to breaking’ focusing on the concept of a battle and contagion, with images in the video including doctors and nurses, people in face masks and other familiar sights.
Martina explained that Kilanerin means a lot to them, and as Lasse is originally from Norway, he simply likes the word itself.
‘Lasse in the process of setting up a studio at the side of our house, called Lazz music productions. He’s a metal head but I love melodies. This is his big solo project and the song is the first he released in Ireland. He tours Norway with a different group, and he’s fairly well known in Scandinavian countries.
‘I’m always involved in whatever he’s doing. I’d read over his lyrics and give my opinion on the music. I’d never have had much to do with music, only from school but he has encouraged me so I record little bits in the studio with him.
Martina, who has been working at the Beacon Hospital in Dublin during the crisis, said that the song is very authentic.
‘The lyrics meant a lot to me, it wasn’t a superficial thing it was really authentic and I can hold my hand up and say that. Lasse came in with the melody and I really loved it instantly. He wanted me to help him write the lyrics and it just came very quickly. I had so much more words written, but we had to cut it down to fit in to the melody.
‘A lot of people said the lyrics sounded genuine but they actually were cause I was stuck in myself at the time. At the same time, I was keeping up with all the other ICU nurses who were preparing for the surge capacity, staffing and reading all these articles about Covid-19 so I was overwhelmed with it all. I was seeing the news then about people hoarding toilet rolls and I just thought this was insane.
‘Covid-19 has certainly been one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced so far in my career’.
Martina said that the crisis is an important moment in history as well as healthcare.
‘This is the first time in my career that I’ve seen such camaraderie and openness across the board. Even in regard to things like documentation and hospital policy, things that need a lot of leg work and time and resources, everyone is just pulling together and doing it for each other as we’re sharing everything.
‘Everyone is collaborating so really the best heads in the country are coming together and guiding practise which is something we’ve never really seen before, as everything is very open across different hospitals and universities.
‘It’s going to be a new era for healthcare in Ireland because of this level of collaboration, it’s a fantastic new thing and long may it last. We have had our first surge, but I know there’s another one coming and we’re waiting and everyone is ready.
‘This will be a historical moment, the same as they teach people about World War I and II, this is going to be pinnacle in peoples’ lives’.
Martina has had a number of different roles in her career to date but now that she is in a management role, there is an extra level of responsibility.
‘Before this role I was a junior manager in the Beacon and I worked in the Mater public ICU before that. I’ve had different challenges along the way depending on my level of experience and where I was in my career, but certainly having a managerial role, it’s tough. I’m only a manager a couple of years in ICU but people look up to you and they’re waiting on you to make decisions and lead them and guide them, so it was a tremendous responsibility. ‘The minute we got those Covid-19 patients in, even though we’re not one of the big dedicated hospitals for Covid-19, we got our fair share. We had to move our ICU into another area for it so from day one, I was in with Covid-19 100% of the time.
‘I was in to the knees up and it’s very challenging. Not even just for the staff and us as managers, for the relatives. It’s really heart breaking.
‘It’s absolutely so sad to see the patients and you’re offering them the ipad all the time to call their son, daughter, whoever. We brought in packets of cards and tried playing cards with them in the room and we’ve been doing our best but they are very oxygen dependent, very fatigued. It’s a really gruesome illness and I think it’s something that people need to have great respect for.
‘I’m in Gorey town this week on my day off and I see so many people walking around and they are ill-informed in a way. They might be listening to all the media but they really need to listen and take it in. They don’t realise the gravity, unless you see someone who is struggling for breath beside you, you just don’t realise’.
Martina said that a lot of managing the crisis comes down to personal responsibility.
‘This teaches us that it’s my responsibility to protect you and your responsibility to protect the next person, I think people need to break it down to that rather than I just have to protect myself, because that’s how we’re going to get through it all. I really hope that people value their neighbour more than the material stuff out of this.
‘I see people going around with gloves on them all the time and yeah they aren’t getting anything on their hands, but they’re spreading it on everything around them. I think everybody has to think for the next person as that’s the only way we can help each other’.
Collaborative couple Martina and Lasse are hoping for success with the release of the song, and are looking ahead to release an album as part of the musical project named Kilanerin.
The aim of the project is to feature a variety of musicians from drums, bass, guitars and piano.
To find out more about the project or listen to the song, search ‘Kilanerin - A War Against the World’ online.