[ad_1]
SINGAPORE: Robes, gloves, goggles, masks and shields – they are ready for battle against an invisible coronavirus that can pierce the slightest gap in their defenses.
It is necessary, but it is also hot and stifling work and for the migrant workers they are caring for, it can seem intimidating.
Ad
Learning to communicate with them through plastic and latex layers, and despite language barriers, has been one of the challenges of working in migrant workers’ dorms, said Dr. Maleena Suppiah of the Jurong Health Campus , which is under the National Health System of the University (NUHS). )
“We learned to smile with our eyes: Being masked, there was no way they could see our lips or teeth and a lot of empathy must be communicated when we take care of them,” he told CNA in an interview on Monday (Apr 27). “We slowly learned to communicate with our eyes and certain images, for example.”
Dr. Maleena Suppiah (right) with another volunteer, Assoc Prof Zubair Amin, at Tuas View Dormitory on April 17, 2020. (Photo: National University Health System)
Dr. Maleena, 55, received training as a food scientist and leads the training and education team at the JurongHealth Clinical Education and Simulation Center.
Now she spends three days a week volunteering in migrant worker dormitories where the number of COVID-19 cases has increased.
As of Friday, COVID-19 cases among dormitory workers have reached 14,776, accounting for the majority of the 17,101 cases detected in Singapore so far.
Twenty-five dormitories of foreign workers have been declared isolation areas and even in unrecognized dormitories, No worker is allowed to move on or off the premises until May 4.
READ: Singapore reports 932 new COVID-19 cases, totaling more than 17,000
Teams including police officers and military personnel have been dispatched to assist them with dormitory operations.
On April 14, the Health Ministry said that medical teams would be deployed in the 43 specially designed dormitories to care for ill workers and take samples of the coronaviruses. About 200,000 workers live in these dormitories, authorities said.
Many health professionals voluntarily stepped forward for these duties, director of medical services Kenneth Mak said at the time.
Dr. Maleena has performed housekeeping on a number of bedrooms, including Tuas View Dormitory, Westlite Toh Guan, and Toh Guan Dormitory. She was part of the team that organized the cleaning operations in the Tuas View dorm from April 16 and also trains new staff volunteers on how to clean patients.
Dorm tests of COVID-19 have increased substantially since the first cases were detected in late March. Approximately 25,000 migrant workers have been screened for COVID-19 since the outbreak began here, authorities said Friday.
COVID-19: On-site care facilities in some bedrooms, designated spaces for recovered workers
To help carry out clean-up and other medical operations, about 215 staff members from Ng Teng Fong General Hospital volunteered, he said. Across NUHS, more than 800 medical and non-medical personnel have stepped forward and recently sent out a public call for more volunteers.
Before the first day of operations at Tuas View, Dr. Maleena and a core team of volunteers worked with the dorm operators, military officers, and police to figure out how to manage medical stations to prevent contamination and also organize medical supplies, kits swabs, water and soft drinks.
“I know that the colleagues stayed up late at night for the preparatory work so that everything is perfect in the morning. They put in a lot of hard work and hours, ”he told CNA.
Dr. Maleena Suppiah in a daily briefing with other volunteers in a dorm room before putting on personal protective equipment. (Photo: National Health System of the University)
Away from the family setting of a hospital, everything in the bedroom had to be set from scratch, he said: “With temperatures reaching 38 degrees, we had to conserve our energy and care for as many patients as possible.”
An example of how the equipment has been adapted: patients are asked to take the same chair they sit in while queuing from one station to another, before returning it to a designated collection point for disinfection. This reduces the time spent disinfecting chairs, which is required each time a new patient sits down.
Since they cater to workers, they would be drenched in sweat “up to (their) shoes” after working just two hours without air conditioning, a “humiliating experience” because it is what migrant workers experience in their daily work, she said.
A colleague helps Dr. Maleena Suppiah put on her personal protective equipment at Tuas View Dormitory on April 18, 2020. (Photo: National University Health System)
In addition to the smear, medical posts have been established to provide primary medical care to migrant workers who cannot leave the dormitories.
Dr. Djoni Huang, Family Physician of the National University Polyclinics, directs the clinical operations of two of the dorms in the west and has been assisting at Sungei Tengah Lodge, Acacia Lodge and Tuas View Dormitory. Workers come to them for conditions such as headaches, back pain, or to refill medications, he said.
“People with acute respiratory infection will be offered the COVID-19 swab test. If they are not doing well medically, we will refer them to the hospital for further evaluation,” he said.
In addition to the well-being of the workers, he is also one of the physicians responsible for ensuring the well-being of the medical team volunteers, and discusses areas such as their safety, registration and ensuring that there is sufficient medical equipment.
Dr. Djoni Huang (right) and other volunteers from the Polyclinics of the National University in a PPE team. (Photo: National Health System of the University)
Making sure volunteers comply with personal protective equipment or EPP safety is the most important thing, he said.
“Sometimes your PPE can be accidentally dislodged, your glove can break. Therefore, it is important that we help each other remind ourselves that we have to change, just as when we feel dehydrated, we must take off our gowns and take a sip of water, “he said.
It is not the first time that the 47-year-old doctor has volunteered in an outbreak, having been involved in work for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome while in the UK, and during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak in Singapore. Your family is supportive. of his current decision to volunteer in quarantined areas, an opportunity he “seized,” he said.
“Migrant workers play an important role in helping build Singapore to where we are today,” he said.
He recalled how one of the patients who came to the medical post seemed distressed and did not seem to know why he was there. He spoke very little English, so Dr. Huang asked another doctor who spoke his language to communicate with him.
“We finally got to see a smile on his face and he felt calmer,” he said. “After the consultation, he came back to me and said, ‘Thank you for helping me.’ That word of ‘thank you’ really hit my heart and it’s enough to make me feel appreciated, to be there for them.”
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
