“Our human compassion binds us the one to the other-not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learned how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future” – Nelson Mandela
Paying Tribute To Healthcare Professionals
This is one of the most stressful times I’ve experienced as a front-line Registered Nurse working in the Emergency Department. This is a sacred time to do some self-reflection and heal what’s been hurting your soul for such a long time. A time to reach out to the most vulnerable amongst us and pray for healing (Psalm 91).
Remembering Those Who Died Fighting Covid-19
According to a Johns Hopkins University tally, the number of people infected with Covid-19 in the United States hit more that 104, 000 with the number of fatalities surpassing 1,700 with a global death toll of up to 27, 360.
Dr. Marcello Natali, a 57-year-old physician recently died from Covid-19; a devastating disease, he fought so hard to defeat. The deadly coronavirus outbreak exploded in the northern Italian town of Codogno, Italy where the country’s outbreak originated. According to European media reports, Dr. Natali treated thousands of patients as coronavirus cases exploded in his region.
Dr. Natali is among at least 13 doctors in Italy who have died on the front lines while treating Covid-19 patients. Italy, the worst-hit European country, has seen more than 2,600 healthcare professionals infected with the virus since the onset of the outbreak in February 2020, according to a report published by Gruppo Italiano per la Medicina Basata sulle Evidenze or GIMBE – Italy’s Group for Evidence-based Medicine. The risk to healthcare professionals is one of the great vulnerabilities of our health-care system. Emergency Departments and health-care systems are running at capacity.
Personal Protective Equipment
Why are we sending our most vulnerable to war without wearing the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)? What do you think the outcome will be if we lose 50% of our global health force because of ignorance? I’m concerned that healthcare professionals who attend to Covid-19 patients don’t have adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) with no proper protective filters to shield them from contagion. We have to be mindful that the more healthcare professionals are infected, the weaker the responsiveness of the healthcare system.
Healthcare professionals should be equipped with protective devices to avoid spreading the virus further. We have to be mindful that the more healthcare professionals are infected, the weaker the responsiveness of the healthcare system.
At least two million items of protective gear have been sent to 74 countries, which need it the most in the fight against Covid-19 (World Health Organization). Keep fighting the good fight.
I’m grateful for every global healthcare professional fighting this deadly “Beast.”
Thank you for your selfless acts of service. I salute you…
“Amandla Awethu” (Power to the people)
Reference
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Coronavirus Covid-19. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
World Health Organization. (2020). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic.
Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019