A Hero in Disguise - A Frontliner's Story

A Hero
in disguise

By

Devandran Rangasamy
Emily John Wejidas

Evelyn Rita Adickalam
Saraswathy Kashinathan

THE DESIGN TEAM EMILY JOHN WEJIDAS
P105790
DEVANDRAN RANGASAMY
P105786

EVELYN RITA ADICKALAM SARASWATHY KASHINATHAN
P105070 P105096

GGGE 6313 PSYCHOLINGUISTICS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Eddy sat on the floor
leaning against the wall,
feeling exhausted with one
hand holding her head and
the other on her knees. It
has been a double shift
continuously for the past 5
days.

“Eddy!!! Quick, we have
another case, this time it’s
a 7 years old boy. He has
the symptoms and now he
is having difficulty
breathing. You are wanted
in the ER, come quickly.”

“Eddy! Can you hear me?”

“Yes! I heard you… Coming.”

My feet are glued to the
floor, unable to move as
though screaming to me to
take a break! But cases are
not taking any breaks. I
got up slowly and went to
room 3.

In room 3, doctors and nurses
were attending to a small boy
with an injection into a vein via
an intravenous injection (IV).

He was crying nonstop. His
fever was 39 degree Celsius…

My attention was distracted
by the coughing sound from a
nearby couple who happened
to be the boy’s parents.
Aaaah…!!
Another case involving a
family.

Tringg! Tringg! Suddenly my
phone starts to ring.

“Yes dear…” on the other side was
my husband.

“The whole family is waiting for
you, what time are you coming?”

“Goodness! I totally forgot! I am so
sorry, you guys carry on first, we
just received a new case; we
suspect the whole family could be
infected too!

“Don’t worry, I will handle them all.
You go ahead dear,” he said.

My tears flowing, I thanked God for
such a patient and understanding
husband.

“Call me once you finish, I will
come and fetch you, OK”, he
insisted.

“Sure, I will”, I assured him.

Suddenly I heard someone calling
out, “Eddy come and collect the
specimen, we need to swab
urgently”.
“I am coming”. I put my phone
away and hurried to do my duty.
“You are the expert here; only you
can do it fast and efficiently”,
said Vimala, my colleague from
the same ER department.
“Yes Vim, I’m coming!”

I am trained for this procedure:
in the beginning it was difficult
but now I am an expert.

I went near the boy and asked
him, his name. He replied he is
Azmi and he came with his
parents. I told him what I am
going to do, and it might hurt a
little bit.

I took a long stick with a very
soft brush on the end — kind
of like a pipe cleaner, up into
his nose and twirled it around
for a few seconds. The soft
bristles will collect a sample
of secretions there for
analysis.

The swab must go pretty far
back, because cells and
fluids must be collected
from along the entire
passageway that connects
the base of the nose to the
back of the throat to get a
really good specimen.

The boy started to feel After, 2 hours of waiting the
uncomfortable and cried, I tried results were out and we had
to calm him and slowly took the prepared them to be taken to
specimen. the Sungai Buluh Hospital
where the main Covid-19
Turning to his parents, I patients were treated.
performed the same procedure.
Once done, I asked them to go
to the isolation room while
waiting for the RTK rapid test
result.

“Sister Eddy, doctor is calling
you”.
“Why Lisa?”
“I think it’s about today’s report.”
“Oh ya! Tell him I will complete
the report and see him in 20
minutes, OK.”
“All right Sister Eddy.”

I need to doff the PPE
before completing the
report. The thought of my
pillow and the soft bed…
Aaaaa! but not without
completing this report for
the day. It was so important
to have the daily statistics.

First, the doffing of PPE. I Next in line is the head cover
have to remove my gloves, and removal of the surgical
perform hand hygiene, next N95 mask. Again… after
remove my gown and again, removing each one of it; we
perform hand hygiene, must perform hand hygiene.
followed by removing my face Finally remove boot cover and
shield. The drill is, “Don’t once more; perform hand
forget to perform hand hygiene.
hygiene.” Sighh!!!



It’s 9.30 already. Mmmm…
another 30 minutes. I have to
take a quick shower.

Looking at the paper, I feel like
tearing it off; I need my bed…!

Duty calls. I need to complete the
report. MMmmm!

Ok! All that is done!

“Where is Sister Punitha? I need
to pass this report to her.”

“There she is,” replied Vim.

“Hi Punitha, right on time; come
I will brief you on the whole
report.”

“Yes, please Eddy. Thanks.”

I am done!

My small wrist-watch shows it’s
11.00 p.m. Time to call my
hubby.

Before leaving my workstation,
I need to perform hand hygiene
again. Sighh!!

“Hi Bie!” “What’s for dinner?” I
asked.
“Hi Ed! So, what happened to
the boy?” asked my “There is leftover food
husband. from the function just
now,” he answered.
“He is confirmed of Covid-
19 and was sent to Sungai
Buluh Hospital for further
treatment.”

It was a silent journey;
thank God he is an
understanding husband.
Never complained.

By the time I reached home
the children were already
in bed and my in-laws were
already fast asleep.

I had to soak my uniform in
hot water mixed with
detergent and later, put it
in the washing machine. I
had to make sure not to
mix my uniform with other
clothes; then took my
shower.

Once I had my so-called
dinner or rather it’s
supper for me, I headed to
my bedroom feeling
utterly exhausted; I
cannot think of anything
else except laying my
head on my pillow.

My hubby came and
applied ointment on
both my feet. It was

very soothing, and I

didn’t realize when I
dozed off.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I shut my alarm clock
while my eyes were
still closed!

Another night had ended
and it’s another morning
routine all over again!!!

This is my life as an
Emergency and Trauma
Staff Nurse.

The End!

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