Heal the world,
Make it a better place
For you and for me,
And the entire human race
There are people dying
If you care enough for the living
Make it a better place
For you and for me.
The situation we all are in makes these lines from the famous Michael Jackson song play in my mind.
Sitting at home (which is best), we have absolutely no idea of the gravity of the situation out there in medical facilities.
Novel Coronavirus or CoVid-19 has made everyone bend their knees, made us cancel all our plans and all projections are back to drawing boards, in fact there are no drawing boards right now. At the start of this century, all the corporates and governments had been talking and targeting for the year 2020; they had projected 2020 as a year of some revolution or that ultimate nirvana would be achieved, technology will be at its peak and what not. For over two decades the world had aimed their eyes on this year like Arjun aiming the eye of the fish in Mahabharat. But the situation is such that every day we wake up to a new grim day. The primary question in everyone’s mind right now, which truly is a million-dollar question, “When will all this end?”
Since years we have been reading, listening and discussing of the new age warfare, the weapons which would be deadlier than that of any army or terrorists possess, the biological weapons or bio-weapons or biological warfare; also known as germ warfare — the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons are living organisms or replicating entities. Unlike the wars, which we humans have been fighting / engaging since the history we remember; countries today have contingency plans for those in place. But unfortunately, even after being aware of the threat of bioweapons, no country today was prepared or had a contingency plan in place for such an event to happen. Even when the renowned learned people like Bill Gates spoke and warned the world of such bioweapons, we did not plan anything or work towards it.
No, I am not hinting at any country who has deliberately prepared this deadly virus as a bioweapon and has used it against the world. There are several theories doing the rounds, but I am nobody to comment or state my views on this.
The difference here is that in a war or a battle, our soldiers know who the enemy is, who the target is and attack them. But in this case, we cannot see the enemy. It’s not even like hitting in the dark, because these are in fact, very tiny microscopic enemies that we have no clue where they are hiding or hanging, suspended or resting to cling onto us and enter our bodies and kill us. The rate at which they are attacking us makes it even more difficult and we are running against time to understand this enemy and prepare our counterattack strategy or our anti-bioweapons to kill them. We are working on trial-and-error models until we have tested medicines and vaccines. But while all that is happening, our soldiers, who are not in any camouflage uniforms but in their white lab coats and scrubs are out there helping us. Medical practitioners and healthcare workers are at the forefront of the battle facing this non-visible enemy with brevity. Besides them, there are many others too who are working zealously to keep the system and society running & working, like bankers, public transport, cleaners, sweepers, garbage collectors, dairy people, vegetable vendors, bakeries, grocery stores, pharmacy, police and many others. Thank you all, thank you, thank you. Had it not been for you all, our lives would have been in grave danger and impossible to go through these lockdowns. We would not have been able to survive. Thank you!
In this particular blog, I am going talk about doctors, nurses and all the healthcare workers.
Yes, we are aware of them, yes we do acknowledge their help, yes we did pay our respects by doing what was asked us to do (a few of us even went quite overboard in showing their gratitude), but do we really know what these soldiers in white are going through? Do we?
"I am hungry, but I cannot eat or have my coffee right now, I am geared up, I cannot take a bio-break."
I am fortunate to have the opportunity to interact with few of these doctors, nurses and other medical / healthcare practitioners from few countries and stories that they have shared, gives me sleepless nights and my head bows in respect for them. No number of Thank You messages and other shows of gratitude can match up to what they are experiencing. Through this blog, I wish to reach out to them and tell them that you all are our angels, our guardian angels, and also reaching out to all others to make them aware of these guardian angels’ plight.
We all know how deadly this virus is. Do you know that practically each and every doctor and nurse today, across the globe who are helping and treating coronavirus infected people, are themselves infected, because they are exposed to this virus? You may argue about the protective gears they wear, but the sad truth is that these gears are not able to protect them. Our nurses and doctors do not have the proper and enough protective gears. Let me share something here, we have seen pictures of gears which resembles a space suite, we have seen them in movies, but in reality, the gowns which our doctors and nurses are wearing are nothing like those suites. Different hospitals (in different countries) have different types of these gowns, and then due to shortage, there are make-do gowns which they are wearing; free flowing, big plastic bags, raincoats and rain jackets, ponchos and the likes. Masks are in scarce supply too, because we civilians panicked and went berserk and bought masks in bulk especially N95, and as a result, these doctors, nurses and hospitals do not have enough masks (just FYI, N95 mask is for doctors and nurses who are treating infected people, and not for civilians). Besides, the head scarf, gloves, shoes, etc., all these require to be made of particular fabric to prevent the pathogen from passing through the pores of these material, which unfortunately are not available or made of, they are of highly substandard quality or the fabric is extremely porus. Hence, our doctors and nurses, even when they know these gears will not protect them, are still going ahead and exposing themselves to help treat Coronavirus Positive people. Imagine when you know how deadly this virus is, seeing healthy people dying every day, but still walking into those rooms and exposing yourself just to help other people recover. Aren’t they our angels, who are out there to protect us? Let me also add that once these doctors and nurses have put on their protective gears, they cannot use any of their personal belongings, they cannot take bio-breaks, they cannot eat or drink anything for long hours till they hang these gears. Due to short supply, they are forced to reuse these gears, gears which have been exposed and need to be disposed of (there are protocols of disposing them).
"I know I am infected, but I cannot stay at home, my patients need me."
"I had planned my vacation a year back. I am cancelling it. I cannot let my nurses face this situation alone."
It is not at all easy to wear these gears and work… work here is taking care of the sick. Let me give you an example. Many of us by now have experienced wearing this mask. Many of us must have watched videos of effective masks are the ones where we are not able to blow off the lighted candle or lighter, right? Now what does that mean, if you are not able to blow off the flame, means air is cut off, imagine how these doctors and nurses are breathing? How suffocating it would be for them to wear these masks and treat these patients. Let me enlighten you further, because of the deadliness of this virus, many doctors and nurses have to wear two-three different masks over the other. Now when we found it so disturbing and suffocating to wear one mask and venture out for grocery shopping, imagine wearing two or three masks and treating the sick. Have we seen these doctors and nurses faces when they finally remove their masks? They have wrinkles on their face. The mask is so tight that they have to wear special thick band-aids on their nose.
There are not enough testing labs and facilities. There are not enough beds and medical equipment like ventilators. There are no proven medicines, which can be administered, not enough ICUs. These helpless doctors are forced to take decisions on who should be treated and who should not, whose plug needs to be pulled so the next can be treated, all sad but true. All this adds on to their emotions and conscience and this is not easy to wade off.
"I am a healthcare worker and got exposed treating my patients. I had to self-quarantine myself. Worst was when my father came to see me, he stood at the gate and we two just looked at each other with tears in our eyes. Our hearts cried."
"It pains when I see my girls from far and when they want to hug me. My heart sinks but I stay afar."
These doctors and nurses, they too are humans and they all are very tired and scared. They are crying and nervous but not many are there to listen to them. They are trying to help each other. They are reaching, if not already, their breaking points. They need help. Thankfully, there are few blessed people in this world who have come forward to help them in various ways like providing proper food to eat, place to stay / rest, donations, etc., but that is still not enough.
"I know I am exposed and have exposed my family too"
These nurses and doctors are quarantining / isolating themselves from their families for us. Their families also need to be thanked, because truth be told, if your family supports you, then you can fight the world and that’s what these doctors and nurses’ families are doing, supporting them to save us. The scene is not much different from when a soldier leaves home to fight a war and the family does not know if they would see their beloved again, it is similar to when these doctors and nurses walk out of their doors every day to protect us, trying to save us.
"I saw a nurse stitching the strap of her N95 mask. On enquiring, the string had snapped while attending to a patient and there aren’t enough N95 masks."
Let me highlight the other gory and morbid side of this Coronavirus. This is an infectious disease and can happen to anyone regardless of what lifestyle one has been following. This is a virus, and as we saw whatever protection we take, we can be exposed to this virus, a good and healthy human being can die within few days. People with stronger immunity can overcome or recover, but then it also depends on how much one is exposed to this virus. Our doctors and nurses are seeing, these once healthy people being admitted and their health deteriorating with every hour and then suddenly dying. There are cases where one has recovered but within few days, there is a relapse and person dies of pneumonia or cardiac arrest. There is not enough space to bury or cremate the dead, hence they are being kept in morgues. But morgues are also running out of space, hence these bodies are being kept in makeshift places in the hospitals. And unlike other times, these are infected dead people, hence they are (sorry to use the terms here) packed in plastic bags (not sharing more details of how they are being packed). Imagine piles of these dead people lying in rooms, which you once frequented, like your meeting rooms, teaching rooms, etc. It will shiver anyone just looking at these plastic bags, because these are human beings, we are talking about who are in there. The waiting time to cremate or bury is averaging between 5-7 days. Then there are belongings of these dead, which have to be kept safely till their family or relatives would come to claim after this pandemic is over. Non-infected people are not allowed to visit these hospitals.
"Today, I am seeing; healthy man becoming sick...sick becoming worse...man struggling to catch each breath...I am attending calls."
"Why can’t people stay at home and watch Netflix, Amazon Prime and stay away from getting exposed."
I definitely call these angels in white as our real superheroes.
It is true that we are aware of this virus and how deadly it is. Also, it is nice to try and lighten our moods when the outside environment is so morbid. But are we so insensitive that we don't think twice before making fun and memes on Coronavirus, not realizing the emotions we might be hurting of not just these doctors and nurses who are fighting them, but of family members who lost their loved ones because of this virus. Coronavirus is NO JOKE and let us not become so insensitive that we make fun of it and hurt the ones who have lost or are fighting this virus. Try interacting with these doctors and nurses, or even with the lucky ones who fought and won the battle with coronavirus or what they went through. I am sure your heart will cry. Yes, we all are scared, and we all are searching for answers and whoever has some knowledge of medicine, is being approached. There are gynecologists, dermatologists, dentists, anyone who has a “Dr.” prefixed to their names, are being approached for help and these doctors are scared of what to share, what to advice… our doctors and nurses are scared, even more because they are in the profession of saving lives. Their one wrong move can literally destroy someone’s world forever. The famous quote from movie Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility”, yes this is a great responsibility which these doctors and nurses are shouldering and today they are scared.
"You should see my nurses when they see me, there is a relief on their face."
"All my nurses are scared. I am scared but I cannot show my emotions. I talk to my nurses and ask them “what can I do for you”, and they start crying, knowing that there is someone out here for them too."
I have always respected the medical field and there is a special place in my heart for doctors and nurses. It was unfortunate that I could not become one, it was my dream, which I regret till date and more so during this time when I wish I could have been out there fighting this battle along with other doctors and nurses. Today, there is a shortage of doctors and nurses and government is requesting the interns and retired doctors & nurses to come forward and help. I wish I could have been there to help. Least we can do right now is to stay indoors, maintain hygiene, maintain social distance, avoid making fun of this virus, empathies our frontline workers.
"I went home after two weeks. Sat outside the gate. My Wife made tea and put on a disposable plate along with few biscuits. I saw my wife and kids having their tea while I had mine. I smiled at them which they couldn’t see because of my mask. They gave me an assuring smile and nod saying everything is okay with them. Their tears told me they are proud of me. Today I learnt the non-verbal language... language of heart."
Before I conclude, when all this is over and it surely would be, we would return to our normal and routine life, soon we all would forget these days, we would forget all the learnings which we are stating right now. This pandemic too will get in our history books like all the other past such pandemics and epidemic outbreaks, and we never implemented what we learnt. We all are praising and sharing pictures/videos of clean air, clear skies, low pollution levels etc., but soon all this would come back. Like one of the forwards states, world is right now in cleanup / reboot mode, but what happens after it has rebooted, we would fill it up again with our filth. We never keep our promises, we never learn from our mistakes. Fortunately, Gods are not like us, for when they brought the Great Flood to reboot this world, they cried on seeing the plight and promised never to repeat, and they have stood by their word. Wish we humans could too.
“All our emotions are processed once the work is done and we are driving back home, because there’s not even a second to think about these emotions at work... and that’s when the reality strikes.”
“While I am in my gear and attending to my patients, there is no time to think about myself, food, water or coffee. But when I finally leave for home, remove all the protective gear, specially the mask, and see my face in mirror, it’s full of wrinkles. It is so physically exhausting that by the time I reach home, I can barely stand in the shower.”
Respect... High Regards and Respect for You All... THANK YOU.
