In the first couple of months of the pandemic there was an outcry of support for those healthcare workers who were giving so much. We were cheering for the healthcare workers, they were getting discounts and benefits and the respect and admiration of us all. Over the last 6 months however this has changed and we have stopped appreciating exactly what people like Cletus Geroges MD and his colleagues have been doing for us. We have to continue to remind ourselves of what these men and women have been through in the last 12 months, starting here.
Losing Patients
Doctors and nurses have seen wartime-like activity in their hospitals and they are losing more patients than most could ever have considered in their worst nightmares. This is not normal and no healthcare professional gets used to losing so many lives, especially when it is happening on their watch. This adds to the helplessness which so many in the healthcare community feel, because there is only so much that they could do against this virus.
Gripped With Fear
If the average Joe is scared of the virus then imagine what doctors and nurses are going through. These men and women are going into work every single day, knowing that they could contract a heavy viral load of the virus because of the fact that they are constant contact with the patients. So many healthcare workers have lost their lives to this and that means that many medics are going into work each and everyday with fear in their hearts, fear of getting sick and fear of losing loved ones.
Lack of PPE
Governments around the world have been guilty of the most embarrassing act in recent history in not making sure that our healthcare workers had proper protective equipment, and this must never be allowed to happen again. These men and women deserve better. Thankfully, down to the resourcefulness of the private sector and of kind-hearted individuals, those doctors have nurses have had several donations to give them the protection that they need.
Missing Loved Ones
There are so many family members who are missing their dads, mums, brothers and sisters, who have been forced to isolate away from them because of the job that they do. Just imagine going through the hell that medical workers have been through, and then not even being able to hug your child, partner or parent at the end of the day. This has been a tough time on these men and women from a mental, a physical and an emotional standpoint.
Ultimately these healthcare workers deserve our utmost admiration, they are the ones who have really suffered throughout this and yet they have pushed on and kept going into battle day after day, selflessly caring for all of us, no matter how we managed to get the virus, be it our fault or not, they haven’t judged, they just did their best to keep us safe.
