`THIS IS A REAL THING'
Doctor on COVID-19 ward says he and his peers struggle to provide high-quality care
Dr. Sachin Pendharkar, a respiratory specialist working on the COVID-19 unit at Foothills Medical Centre, shares his observations of the emotional strain and challenges faced by front-line workers and their patients amid the pandemic.
Novel coronavirus patients and the staff who care for them are carrying an intense emotional burden, according to a professor at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine who has been working on a COVID-19 ward.
Dr. Sachin Pendharkar is a respiratory physician who has helped treat patients with COVID -19 since the start of the pandemic but has recently joined the COVID -19 unit at Foothills Medical Centre.
He said working on the ward has presented new challenges, caring for patients who are frightened by their admission to a COVID -19 unit and are unable to be close to their families and loved ones.
“You have a heightened sense of awareness of this virus and the illness it causes, how it affects people not only physically, but even emotionally. It's a scary thing,” Pendharkar said.
“One of the things I think I became much more acutely aware of, working on this unit, is what's required for this group of patients in particular. Obviously, the daily medical care is required for whatever their medical issues are but also recognizing that these patients are, in addition to being sick, they're scared, they're isolated, they don't get to see their families and loved ones because of visitor restrictions.
“The numbers have gone up, but it's not just the numbers. It's the amount of time and energy required to provide this group of patients with high-quality care.”
The work became personal for Pendharkar last week when he began caring for a colleague who came down ill with COVID-19.
Pendharkar was assigned to the patient, a fellow health-care worker he has worked with for years, until her health deteriorated and she was moved to the hospital's intensive-care unit and placed on a ventilator.
“That was kind of the moment when it sort of hit me, what was happening. You step back and you realize all that had gone on. If you think about our colleagues, they're our work family. We work with them, we provide care, day and night.
“In the same way people in our community have experienced illness or loss of family members or loved ones getting sick, this kind of hit home for me.”
At the last update, the healthcare worker remained in ICU.
COVID-19 hospitalization rates in Alberta have declined since the start of the year, but there remains a high number of Albertans receiving care for illness with the novel coronavirus, with many experiencing difficulties breathing.
As of Friday, there were 691 Albertans in hospital with COVID -19, 115 of whom were in ICUS. In the Alberta Health Services Calgary zone, there were 213 people in hospital with the virus, with 50 of them in ICUS. Since March, 5,150 Albertans have been admitted to hospital with the virus. Additionally, 1,512 Albertans have died of COVID-19 during the pandemic, including 357 in 2021 alone. It's a heavy load for health-care workers, Pendharkar said, describing his colleagues as stressed but determined to provide care for patients.
“It's tearing through our vulnerable populations, older individuals, people who are living or working in enclosed spaces with other people. But we're also seeing it in young and otherwise healthy people,” Pendharkar said. “You're having to think about these things that are heavy.
We worry about our own families, we think about our households. I think about my family members that are high-risk. It's very tiring, but you press on.”
Though he received his first dose of COVID -19 vaccine last weekend, Pendharkar said immunization is a light at the end of the tunnel but will take time to materialize for most people. He said if the health-care system becomes overwhelmed, it will restrict care for people who need treatment for any illness, not just the coronavirus. He urged Calgarians to continue taking the pandemic seriously over the coming weeks and months.
“This is real. To the best that anyone will believe me as a health-care provider, this is a real thing. The numbers are important, but I don't think the numbers tell the whole story of the acute illness, the prolonged recovery, the experience of the people who have it. It needs to be talked about as something that affects people of all ages.
“Each of these people who gets COVID -19, whether they come into hospital or not, is a member of the community.”