'The most beautiful bouquet' for medical staff treating COVID-19 patients

Every day, Nghe An Intensive Care Center No. 1 receives a large number of severe and critical COVID-19 patients. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Dedicated to the sick

Nghe An Intensive Care Center No. 1 was activated according to Decision No. 362/QD-UBND dated February 15, 2022 of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee; is the 3rd floor according to the "3-storey tower" treatment model, performing the task of admitting and treating patients.COVID-19severe, critical. The center is located at the Tropical Disease Center, Nghe An General Hospital; managed by the Department of Health. The center was formed on the basis of the apparatus, human resources and inherited the COVID-19 treatment activities of the previous Tropical Disease Center. The scale of the current center has 100 beds with over 100 medical staff and many modern equipment.

The center is overloaded, patients have to lie 2-3 people on one bed. Photo: Thanh Cuong

At this point, the translationCOVID-19is spreading rapidly in the community. Every day, Nghe An records over 2,000 cases; including cases of people being treated for other diseases, people with underlying diseases... Therefore, the number of people with severe and critical COVID-19 is very high. Nghe An Intensive Care Center No. 1 is overloaded, with over 230 patients being treated here.

At the Center, patients are lying 2 or 3 on 1 bed. Patients have to lie in the hallway. The oxygen system is not enough, doctors have to use oxygen tanks directly for patients to breathe. All patients when coming here are in critical condition. In one morning, 3 patients had circulatory arrest. Doctors had to deploy emergency measures to save the patients in time... The Center is overloaded but patients from lower levels, 1st and 2nd floors are still being transferred up.

Doctors had to use oxygen tanks directly for patients to breathe. Photo: Thanh Cuong

To treat patients well and save their lives, the medical staff at the Center never rests for a minute. They are always in a state of motion: examining, giving injections, putting patients on ventilators, performing surgery... The hardships and difficulties are countless. Before one patient is treated, another patient needs intervention. Every day, the medical staff here have to work 2 shifts of 12 hours, the workload is 3-4 times that of their colleagues outside. They often sweat in protective "beekeeping" suits.

Doctors and nurses are always busy treating patients. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Dr. Que Anh Tram, Deputy Director of Tropical Diseases and Intensive Care Center No. 1 Nghe An, said: From June 14, 2021 to now, the Tropical Diseases Center (now Intensive Care Center No. 1 Nghe An) has treated over 3,000 COVID-19 patients and they have recovered. The most encouraging thing is that many very serious patients, who were thought to be unlikely to survive, have been saved and recovered. The death rate of COVID-19 patients is much lower than the average of Vietnam and the world. The deceased patients were all people with underlying diseases, elderly, and had not been vaccinated or had not received enough doses of vaccine.

Emergency situations constantly arise, requiring the help of medical staff. Photo: Thanh Cuong

According to Dr. Que Anh Tram: To achieve those treatment results, it is thanks to the great investment and attention from the Province, the Department of Health and the Hospital; besides that, there are also the tireless efforts, attempts and sacrifices of the doctors. At the Center, there are many examples of dedication and devotion to patients such as Dr. Kieu Van Duong (Department of Internal Medicine and Neurology), Ngo Van Thiet (Department of Intensive Care and Anti-Poisoning), Phan Thanh Son (Department of Obstetrics)... Or Dr. Le Van Tai, who is working in the Yin area (not treating COVID-19 patients), insisted on carrying his suitcase and asking to be treated in the Yang area to share and shoulder the fatigue with his colleagues.

Doctor Bui Tien Hoan walks out of the COVID-19 patient treatment area after 8 hours of continuous work here. Photo: BVCC

One of those shining examples is Dr. Bui Tien Hoan, Deputy Head of the Department of Parasitology and Viruses, Center for Tropical Diseases. For nearly a year since the epidemic came to Nghe An, Dr. Hoan has been eating and sleeping in the isolation area for treating severe COVID-19 patients at the hospital, now the Intensive Care Center No. 1 for treating COVID-19 in Nghe An. Originally a young, handsome, dynamic doctor, passionate about sports... He voluntarily gave up his personal passion, accepting the "disappearance" of his appearance. Every 3 months, he is allowed to go home for a few days and then come back. All for the noble mission of taking care of health and saving the lives of patients.

And both joys and sorrows

Performing duties at Nghe An Intensive Care Center No. 1, the medical staff here have experienced all the joys, anger, love, and hate. There is nothing more joyful than snatching a patient's life from the hands of death; there is nothing sadder than watching a patient slowly pass away despite your best efforts. Among the myriad of situations and emotions, the thing that the medical staff here fear the most is misunderstanding. A doctor at the center shared: Hard work, sacrifice, high intensity of work, exposure to many dangers... are nothing compared to being criticized and misunderstood by patients and people.

Many patients are in critical condition. Photo: Thanh Cuong

A sad story just happened: There was an elderly female patient with COVID-19, before being admitted to the hospital, she gave her grandchild a gold necklace, but her family did not know. This patient did not survive, although the doctors tried their best to save her. When receiving the handover of her belongings, her family did not see the necklace, so they thought that the doctors had "taken" the deceased patient's gold necklace... During the next 2 weeks, the doctors at the Center searched every corner to search, and held continuous meetings to review the incident of losing the necklace. The matter was only clarified when her grandchild reported that she had been given the necklace by her grandmother. Her family called to apologize to the doctors... However, that apology could not erase all the "heartache".

And there have been people who have died, despite doctors' best efforts to save them. Photo: Thanh Cuong

There are many other sad stories such as when taking care of patients, doctors and nurses have to wear protective clothing, masks, and goggles. If doctors and nurses speak softly, the patients cannot hear. If they speak loudly so that the patients can hear, the patients will say, "Are you yelling at me, doctor? Are you talking that loud?"... Due to the nature of the epidemic, the Center cannot allow family members to take care of patients (except for family members who are also F0). Therefore, the story of sending supplies and "asking the doctor to pay more attention" is also very stressful. Some family members have sent dozens of kilograms of food of all kinds to patients; some people call all day "asking the doctor" but when the doctor is busy and cannot answer the phone in time, they send threatening and terrorizing messages...

Pressure is always heavy on medical staff. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Discussing this story, the doctors at the Center sent a message: The Center does not have many human resources, always wholeheartedly dedicated to treating patients. The fact that relatives continuously send things in makes the doctors and nurses spend a lot of effort to transport them. At the Center, all patients are treated equally. Only patients in more critical condition receive priority care. When sending things, relatives only need to send 3 essential items and foods, which are "milk, diapers and warm blankets"... The rest are not necessary, in the treatment area, the State and medical staff have taken care of everything.

Caesarean section for pregnant woman with COVID-19. Photo: Thanh Cuong

There have been some bad apples that spoil the barrel; there have been moments when the medical staff of Nghe An Intensive Care Center No. 1 felt sad because some people's eyes had equated everything. But the sadness quickly passed, because work continued to work, and there were still many patients who needed help. The vast majority of people and patients still looked at the medical staff with respect and love...

Hundreds of children have been born safely and healthily in the COVID-19 treatment area. Photo: Thanh Cuong

As Vietnam Doctors' Day approaches, it is certain that the medical staff who are devoted to treating COVID-19 patients at Nghe An Intensive Care Center No. 1 cannot receive congratulatory flowers. And they themselves do not need those bouquets. The gift they most desire at this time is the people's spirit of fighting the epidemic. "The people's spirit of fighting the epidemic is the most beautiful bouquet" for doctors and medical staff on this important holiday.

Dr. Que Anh Tram expressed: The epidemic is developing complicatedly, everyone should minimize contact with each other. If there is contact, always ensure 5K... There have been elderly patients who suffered from cerebrovascular accidents and were bedridden. They should have been safe from COVID-19, but when their children and grandchildren came to visit, they took off their masks and asked "Mom/Grandma...?". Then a few days later, they tested positive for COVID-19 and had to come here./.