Doctors at the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in hospitals are no strangers to pain and suffering, but the Covid-19 pandemic pushed these doctors to their breaking point - in Bangladesh and all over the world.
In addition to contending with skyrocketing patient numbers, these frontline fighters have also had to worry about the risk to their families because of their dealing with the highly infectious coronavirus disease on a regular basis.
Two such doctors in the capital, who have been working at ICUs designated for Covid-19 patients, recently sat down with Dhaka Tribune to share their experiences.
They spoke of the horror when patients gasped in vain for their loved ones with their last breaths, and the rays of hope when some fought their way back from the brink of death.
'Like hell on earth'
Dr Amina Sultana is the in-charge of the Covid-19 ICU at the United Hospital. From the very beginning of the pandemic, she knew that there was no margin for error and going on the backfoot against such a virus was not an option.
“I faced trouble sleeping because of all the stress and had to take sleeping pills to cope. However, I never even gave a thought to quitting,” she told Dhaka Tribune.
Her worst fear was that she would become a carrier and infect her family.
“I have a teenage son who has been asthmatic since childhood and a four-and-a-half-year-old daughter at home. My mother is on high doses of insulin for her uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, and my mother-in-law has multiple comorbidities. All of them are my weakness as well as my strength,” Amina said.
Dr Rafia Alam, left, works at the Covid-19 ICU at Square Hospital Ltd, and Dr Amina Sultana is in charge of the Covid-19 ICU at the United Hospital in Dhaka | Courtesy
“I saw deaths every single day - Deaths in clusters, deaths of multiple members of the same family at a time, deaths among the young as well as the old. I also saw the unimaginable suffering of some of my patients, who were hooked up to high-flow oxygen supply devices and counting the days to death.
“It was like hell on earth,” the doctor recalled.
One incident that broke Amina’s heart was when a young doctor contracted the virus after performing a caesarean section on her patient. The doctor died after a long fight in the ICU.
Rays of hope
It was not all doom and gloom, though. One story that gives Dr Amina Sultana hope is that of a mother who contracted Covid-19 in her last trimester.
“She was in the Covid-19 ICU with pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, while her newborn girl was in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). There were some hairy moments, but the two were reunited after a long fight and went home happy as well as healthy,” she said.
Dr Rafia Alam, who works at the Covid-19 ICU of Square Hospital Limited, often feels like she has become a bridge between the patients and their families. Visitors are not allowed to see Covid-19 patients in the ICU, and it falls on the doctors to update the families about the patients’ health.
“When the family members of Covid-19 patients say on the phone that they are leaving their loved ones under our care, I feel like a huge responsibility has fallen on my shoulders,” she told Dhaka Tribune.
Rafia has seen Covid-19 patients in the ICU struggling for breath as if they were drowning, but there were moments when she felt like her hard work was paying off.
“There was this woman in her 40s whose health was deteriorating, and I thought she would never be able to make it. But she managed to survive and returned to her family,” the ICU doctor said.
Rafia is an only child and her father did not take it well when he was told that she had been assigned to the Covid-19 unit.
“When I broke the news to my parents, my father was scared like every other parent. But we had a long discussion and then my father said he was happy that his daughter had taken a risk for the greater good,” she said.
Like Amina, Rafia’s worst fear was to infect her family. The latter did contract the virus, but she was fortunate enough not to pass it on to her loved ones.
Once recovered, Rafia donned her protective gear and dived right back on the frontlines.
