Faces from the frontline
Friday the 13th
Anna Joseph, Consultant Anaesthetist
I incubated our first Covid patient on Friday the 13th of March.
When I put him to sleep I wasn’t sure if he was going to wake up, but he did….
The fear we felt in those first few weeks as we went into ITU - we didn’t know enough about the virus.Anna JosephConsultant anaesthetistcovid 19kingston hospital
From KH portraits
“Are you going to die Mummy?”
Katherine Nagle, Matron
We laugh and we cry together.
My 8-year-old asked, “Are you going to die Mummy?” I had to be straight with him.
During the first wave I looked after a patient who was dying. His family couldn’t be with him. He loved his dogs so the family sent in photos of the dogs to surrounded his bed. As he was dying the family asked me to say specific things to him. When I had to inform them he had passed they were comforted to know I had done what they had asked. It is very sad as the families can’t be with their loved ones we have to step in even more to try to stand in for them.Katherine NagleMatroncovid 19kingston hospital
From KH portraits
"Unforgiving"
Julie Drabwell, Matron
For me the worst thing was seeing younger patients dying, that just should not be happening.
The virus is unforgiving and in the beginning we just didn’t know enough about itJulie DrabwellMatroncovid 19kingston hospital
From KH portraits
"Brutal"
We’ve not seen anything like this before.
I have been in ICU for 20 years and used to dealing with complex patients but this virus has been brutal.
The worst thing is giving bad news over the phone to the family.Alison CurtisITU Consultantcovid 19kingston hospital
From KH portraits
"They are going to see a lot of people die"
David Cornish
Health and wellbeing chaplain
Worst aspect of job is staff badly want time off, but I can’t help them with their work-life balance. The staff are numb. Many will question why they chose this vocation. Some are thriving . They feel more useful and purposeful.
What’s been beautiful is teamwork. They wouldn’t have got through this without the people besides them. Each day they know they are going to see a lot of people die and the only way they can get out of bed is due to that camaraderie.David CornishHealth and wellbeingcovid 19kingston hospital
From KH portraits
