Who is the frontliner in this crises
On news file today 21st of March, 2020, my heart was broken as a health worker.
When asked a question about the plans made for healthworkers in these times, Dr. Aboagye said that frontliners who have voluntarily been put on board to combat the situation are insured and will receive remuneration for their sacrifice but not all healthworkers will be given anything extra for work we are suppose to do when everyone is staying home for their safety and that of their family.
So then, i asked myself the question ” who are the frontliners?” I have been working for the past 15 years and i know how these things work.
Before a person can be confirmed having the corona virus, this person must have pass through pre-triage in the hospital and then triage at the OPD or Emmergency, through the consulting room before he is tagged suspected. Then, the public health specialist is called to come in to take samples to confirm. Mostly, such cases will be placed in isolation until such is confirmed. Who then is the frontliner, i ask again.
Is it the public health specialist you have noted at national level to be the person to take the sample for confirmation alone ? Or is it the nurses and doctors in the isolation area alone? Or better still, is it the doctors and nurses who will be isolated or quarantined with the patient in waiting for the public health specialist to come.
I will site an example to make it clear. Today, 21st of March, 2020, the 37 Military Hospital Emmergency was locked down because there was in hold a suspected corona virus patient there. Patient, was held in quarantine together with doctors and staff who saw her until she was labelled or tagged a suspected case. Were these doctors and nurses named and noticed frontliners? If they observed all precautions until the time, they had to be quarantined, what is going to happen to them, now that they are held with the patient. Trust me, the hold was not for just a few minutes, from 8 am untill 4pm, these staff were in hold waiting for the public health specialist who was in traffic from tema to 37. I bet you, this specialist public health doctor who was off duty until he was called to come and delayed his colleagues for hours in hold is the one who has his name picked up as a frontliner.
This is not a case of isolation. This is the actual ground situation. Government of Ghana, the earlier you open your eyes and recognise the collective contribution of every health worker in these times, the better for us all. Otherwise, some of us, will leave the job for your selected frontliners to fight alone and stay home with our family.
Engaging our bargaining leaders without prioritising the contribution of every member will cost mother Ghana. Kids are home because schools are closed down, soon enough other workers will join and then, only essential services will be needed. I hope that essential services will mean only your named frontliners will be working in the emergencies with the rest of us, home to take care of our family. I hope you acknowledge that we the non-frontliners healthworkers are also in a family and are struggling to manage home, kids and work. To say, frontliners are covered and the rest left with nothing is a good slap on the face at the right time.
The numbers are rising, it is getting more risky to go to the hospitals, soon, we will humbly stay home for your frontliners to work. We are watching with keen interest. For the good of all, let us know now what is in this for every healthworker whiles we combat this at this high risk because it takes all of us together to work this out not your frontliners alone. Self quarantine is not an option for us at all like it is for every worker, so please, note that well.
Aside, can we learn from others and should by now have a minimum exposure time table drawn, shouldn’t we? We can not be working all opened up with no equipment and gadgets such as mask, gloves and PPEs, because afterall not all of us are not frontliners, are we? Would it have been out of the ordinary to even make available to us rapid test kits? As we go in and as we come out of work who caters for our family? What happens to the children of the health worker who goes to work and end up to be quarantined? Does he or she come back home to be self quarantined with the family? Please don’t say we should pick help at this time. Should we? Do we even know who is clean? Do we have the test kits for ourselves, and to even check hired help?
No insurances on our lives or morbidity and yet, after dedicating this 100 million$ for this coarse, it is for frontliners, right??
Well spoken! We have heard you. We have advised ourselves. Your frontliners will be left alone soon enough so that we don’t go and face what we have not been mandated to do. Thank you for your kindness, we are grateful.
‘The Nurse Vigilante’
rjbaidoo 