Today we have a genuine coronavirus helper among our readers: Matthew Jenkins. His caption is below, followed by his photo, and the title of his submission is “Going In”. Musgrove Park Hospital is in Taunton, Somerset, England.
I am a theatre nurse – my job is to assist the surgeon during operations and prepare equipment and the operating theatre for cases. However, elective operations have been cancelled and theatre staff moved to help in other areas such as ICU and HDU.
The photograph shows Udaya and I about to head into a patient care area at ten thirty pm on our first shift in ICU, to help turn a seriously-ill patient on her side, a procedure complicated by all the cables and tubes attached. Actually turning a patient over, termed ‘proning’, has about thirty-six different elements to remember. You don’t, for example, want to forget to unclamp a naso-gastric tube at the end. By the time the shift finished at seven am, we were pretty tired, and with a lot of respect for the ICU nurses.
ICU is in the oldest part of Musgrove Park Hospital. New staff are always proudly told that the corridors are slightly wider than a jeep – the hospital was originally built by the US Air Force. There are pictures on the walls showing freezing young men in uniform trudging through snow between Nissen huts, pretty nurses from Maine receiving mail from home, and recovering men playing basketball under the watchful eye of a waistcoated doctor.
Thank you for your service!
Ditto.
+1
Hats (but not masks) off to you for the work you are doing! All of you on the front lines are true heroes.
I have heard it said that people who do not wear masks are maskholes.
Such an important job in normal circumstances. Well done – I am hoping especially for the best outcomes in medicine. Best wishes.
The knowledge and skill and patience and compassion required in ICU is astounding. You are a hero, Matt.
Bravo, Matt. We need people like you. Thanks.
Good work!
Big thumb’s up!
Thanks for sharing that.
You da man, Matt. Godspeed.
What a job, a very tough job. I do have a question after reading about your hospital. Says it was first opened in Sept. 1942 and was built by the U.S Army. You mentioned Air Force but I assume army is correct as there was no actual Air Force back then?
It may be that the hospital folklore is wrong! I shall try to find out.
USAAF United States Army Air Forces, ’41-47′.
Not unreasonble to refer to as simply Air Force.
Reading my comment it looks like I’m being an arse not meant to be, just defending ‘hospital folklore’. Sorry.
Thanks for your dedication and courage. Bravo👏👏👏
Ditto!
Many thanks, Matthew and colleagues. Do stay safe, so we can all see each other on the other side of this viral miasma.
Hats off to you Matthew. What you and your colleagues are doing, day after day and fully aware of the risks, is humbling. I wish you all the best.
Good work in a job with huge responsibility.
Deepest respect for you Matt.
Kudos Matthew, and Udaya. Thank you for stepping up.
Huge respect for you both. Thank you
Good onya, Matt and Udaya! 🙂
Good stuff – your efforts are appreciated 👍