Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 03, 2020 News
By Sharmain Grainger
As the world undergoes drastic changes owing to the infiltration of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), there are people emerging out of the woodwork who were clearly born for such a time as this.
Some are these are our health care workers. Fearless, they have taken the proverbial baton of life and are running with it whichever way they are needed in the quest to help preserve humanity. It comes naturally, like an ingrained talent; they ooze wisdom and foresight that perhaps even they themselves didn’t know they had.
They work with little to no supervision and under immense pressure, but yet they can easily be adjudged the most disciplined in whatever they set about, daily, doing.
The word exhaustion has been expunged from their vocabulary, for they work almost continuously not even stopping to consider that no amount of compensation would be enough for what they so willingly do.
Life has become a routine, where the end game is to take back humanity’s existence from the grip of COVID-19 – perhaps a plague sent to bring us back to the realization that within many of us lies a phenomenal, super human, strength that we are just now learning to master.
And master it, we must.
Already on this bandwagon of perceived invincibleness is a young doctor by the name Bibi Wazeela Mohamed. She also goes by the name of Farah too, and has a place on the COVID-19 team at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation [GPHC].
Dr. Mohamed has no doubt in her mind that the Creator engineered her entry into the world at just the right time so that she could take her place on a team of warriors to battle the scourge of the novel coronavirus. It is understandably a tough undertaking to be on the offense against an unseen threat, but even in defense mode, the outcome has been bittersweet because of the efforts of unrelenting combatants like Dr. Mohamed.
At the time of writing this article Guyana has recorded just over 80 confirmed cases of the disease and deaths have increased to nine.
Across the globe the confirmed cases have surpassed three million and deaths are more than 230,000, in over 200 countries.
Suppressing fear, those on the frontlines like Dr. Mohamed have been unrelenting despite COVID-19 being a formidable foe. Overcoming this challenge, she insists, is possible by taking necessary precautions such as measures to “STAY SAFE” and out of the assault range of COVID-19.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Dr. Mohamed’s much needed entrance into this world to prepare for the inevitable COVID-19 combat was on February 16, 1990. Her loving parents Sheik Mohamed, now a pensioner, and her Mother Debi Mohamed, a housewife, certainly didn’t know this was the fate of their little girl as they raised her in a Prospect, East Bank Demerara home. Among her favourite pastimes as a lass were: “watching TV, playing with our dogs and catching up on Nancy drew mystery books”.
She was schooled at the Peters Hall Primary and then the ISA Islamic Schools before training for her forte began in Cuba when she qualified for a Guyana/Cuba scholarship.
According to this now Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara resident, “Becoming a doctor is really about knowing your strengths and knowing your best and highest use as a human being, it also requires having the capacity to care for others.”
Studying medicine was the only choice for her, a journey that commenced in Cuba in the year 2006. Following her return in 2012 to complete her internship, she graduated with her Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery [MBBS] in 2013 from the University of Giron, Havana Cuba.
Although she was required to serve a five-year contract with government, Dr. Mohamed revealed her intention to continue to serve her country for many more years. “I choose to stay in Guyana because I feel there is much need to give back to my country so we can work together to build, distribute and organize a better health care system. We have come a long way in our medical health system but we still have to do a lot more improvement..,” she revealed.
IN THE LINE OF DUTY
For the past three years she has held the position of Registrar in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit. Moreover, one of her roles in this department is to give patients medication to sleep so they do not feel pain when they are undergoing surgery. She is tasked with monitoring patients’ safety and making decisions about intravenous (IV) fluids, the need for blood products, antibiotics, pain medications, and where they will recover after the surgery.
Dr. Mohamed is also involved in a range of other medical procedures, including carrying out assessments in critical care units, dealing with emergency situations like providing airway and cardiac resuscitation for advanced life support, and giving advice about pain management.
She admitted that a typical work day for her is pretty hectic since “it depends on which surgical specialty list I have to work, or if I’m oncall in the main operating theatre, the Obstetric operating theatre or the intensive care unit.”
Shedding more light on her tedious but very vital profession, Dr. Mohamed noted that while “being a doctor is a dream for many, the reason to become a doctor can differ for each medical aspirants. Mine simply was because I want to help people and to be able to provide healthcare services to the less fortunate.”
As such she sees doctors with her specific set of skills as “very important as we care and provide anesthesia and critical care services to a vast majority of patients who may require elective or emergency surgeries.”
BECOMING A HERO
Little did she know that her skills would have seen her providing care to help preserve the lives of those inflicted with a, never before seen, strain of coronavirus in 2020.
But she was ready and willing to join forces with her colleagues who make up the COVID-19 team. Her role on this team entails performing critical care services and, according to Dr. Mohamed, this includes procedures such as: intubations, arterial catheterization, central venous catheter placements, among others.
While some infected persons may exhibit mild symptoms of the disease, Dr. Mohamed explained that some arrive at the GPHC in a critical state sometimes due to an underlying ailment.
Because COVID-19 can result in severe respiratory issues, she said too that some of these patients turn up with the common complaint of shortness of breath or having difficulty breathing. It is for this reason, chief among Dr. Mohamed’s duties is the intubation of patients who cannot survive breathing on their own and therefore need the aid of a ventilator. This, she explained, entails a process of inserting a breathing tube (or endotracheal tube) through a patient’s mouth and then into the airway. The tube is then connected to the ventilator which pushes oxygen into the lungs. This, according to her, “is a delicate process that exposes an anesthesiologist or a critical care provider to potential infection…the particular procedure we perform that makes us so valuable also puts us at greater risk of becoming infected.”
Although the virus that causes COVID-19 isn’t normally airborne, “it can become aerosolized during this process, meaning the virus is kicked up in a fine mist, throughout the intubation procedure, which generates the highest risk for droplet exposure. An anesthesiologist face is mere inches away from the patient’s mouth; this is overall the greatest challenge for me since dealing with COVID -19 patients requires such intervention,” she divulged.
But since she refuses to let fear hinder her efficiency and effectiveness, Dr. Mohamed tries to mitigate risk to herself by donning proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for each intubation.
NO TURNING BACK
Even though she recognizes COVID-19 for the daunting threat it is, Dr. Mohamed also has an appreciation for the fact that she signed up for the task of providing quality health care. As such she noted that health care professionals like herself are licensed to maintain and restore health through the practice of medicine even in the face of some challenges. “This COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how much healthcare is in need of some radical changes… the pressure on global healthcare systems and staff has already been increasing to unsustainable levels,” she noted.
But the fight must continue. As such, Dr. Mohamed has seen the need for young ambitious persons to gear up academically to eventually take the baton and continue the race. She is therefore, encouraging all the young persons, who had an interest in medicine before COVID-19, not to lose heart but to, “follow your dreams so that our health sector can be empowered to meet tomorrow’s demand”.
For now our ‘Frontline Worker’ of the week is happy to continue to wage war against the disease even as she urges all of Guyana to lend support to the COVID-19 fight by doing simple things such as: regularly and thoroughly cleaning your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub (70 percent and above) or washing them with soap and water; maintaining at least three feet distance between yourself and others; avoiding crowded places; not touching your eyes, nose and mouth as far as possible; cleaning your hands after touching money; making sure you, and the people around you follow good respiratory hygiene which includes covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze and disposing of the used tissue immediately and then washing your hands; cleaning the bottom of footwear, keys, phones, door knobs and any other surfaces you may have come into contact with, and if you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention. It is advised that persons with such symptoms call ahead before visiting a health facility. For more information persons can contact their local health authority or contact the Ministry of Public Health on 231- 1166, 226-7480 or 624- 3067.
Additionally, Dr. Mohamed noted that the use of facemask can help to prevent droplet transmission of the disease. “Remember when wearing a facemask, do not touch your mask nor pull it downwards or rest it on your head; sanitize or wash your hands before removing it. STAY SAFE, WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER!” she assured.
Please share this to every Guyanese including your house cats.
Apr 19, 2024
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