All for one
Medical students Rasul Nazarov, Ekaterina Volkova and Aleksey Brodnikov were transferred from the Perm Territory to the Central Medical Unit 38 in the Leningrad Region with the help of Russian student teams, which recruited volunteers to work with patients infected with coronavirus.
“We wanted to get such invaluable experience in another region and went to work in Sosnovy Bor at the end of November. We are friends, we went together as a gang,” says Rasul.
On the night when the already well-known photograph appeared, the guys were on a well-deserved rest - not their shift. But the condition of one of the patients began to deteriorate, and she required increased attention and special care.
Considering that there are usually fewer nursing staff on the night shift, and the clock was already two in the morning, colleagues threw a cry who could unplanned go to work, and the students volunteered to help.
"The patient began to experience a panic attack - this state can be compared to drowning, when a person begins to wallow in the water, tries to grab onto some objects and can harm himself. Here is the same: the patient begins to choke and rip off the oxygen mask, which should He begins to rip off all the catheters with medications, thinking that all this is only causing harm, but in fact aggravating the situation. At such moments, you have to constantly monitor the patient, "Rasul explains.
The guys were next to the patient until eight in the morning: they watched the monitors and important indicators - blood oxygen saturation, pulse, pressure, stopped the woman from wrong movements so that she would not unconsciously make herself worse.
"Closer to eight in the morning, when her saturation became steadily high - that is, the blood saturation with oxygen, and the pulse became stable, then we lay down to rest somehow, because in suits we could no longer stand, sit - we lay down on the cold floor to somehow rest, periodically got up. Then, at eight in the morning, a shift came, we were replaced, and we continued to work, because our official shift began at eight in the morning. But when we were near the patient, absolutely did not think about what we want to sleep, eat, and continue to work, "- Rasul shares the story of the moment captured in the photograph.
The woman is now in a stable condition.
Work in an "astronaut" suit
In general, patients feel the peculiarity of the situation and, according to Rasul, try to support the doctors as best they can. True, the emotional outbursts of gratitude to the doctors do not always coincide with the current conditions, the student admits. The cakes and chocolates that are given to doctors in the "red" zone in a protective suit, alas, cannot be tasted and, of course, not taken with you.
"Most of them feel that we are in difficult combat conditions, and each patient, when we enter the ward, looks at us with such inspiration, with gratitude for the fact that we are helping them. They are trying in every possible way to thank both words and letters.. We are glad that they are glad ", - the Perm student shares.
Solidarity is also felt on the part of colleagues - the guys were supported both in social networks and by the doctors in the department.
"It would seem that we helped our colleagues, but in the same turn our colleagues let us go after the shift, saying:" Thank you for coming, you can go on vacation for now - we worked all night - we will replace you. " - says Rasul.
Unheard of scale
Lesha and Rasul are future therapists, Katya is a pediatrician, all of them study at the Perm State Medical University named after academician Wagner. With the help of student teams, they also worked in Novosibirsk, but this is the first time they are fighting a new infection on such a scale, like many others.
"The experience is very interesting that such combat conditions, protective suit, full ammunition, as if in a spacesuit, like an astronaut. In fact, at such a moment there is a feeling of complete protection from the virus. The "red" zone. There is a very good attitude. We work in suits that absolutely do not breathe, because of this the workload is twice as heavy, "the doctor notes.
A difficult experience, according to Rasul, does not scare off the profession, but on the contrary, helps to become stronger morally. Now the guys are going home to celebrate the New Year and take exams - the session begins. And then they think about returning back to Sosnovy Bor or finding a job in the covid department already in the Perm Territory. During a pandemic, young doctors want to be needed and not remain on the periphery.
"Against the background of all this, it seems that nothing seems to be more difficult in life. When such difficult situations pass at work, it seems that they have coped with it, and it becomes good," Rasul shares.
Christina Abelian
