It was a moment of glory for the healthcare professionals at Gandhi Hospital when flower petals were showered on them by an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter on Sunday morning.
Doctors, nurses, para medical staff, class IV employees, sanitation and security employees, assembled in the hospital premises to receive this unique felicitation.
A spectacle
People residing in the vicinity of the hospital stood on roofs to catch a glimpse of this spectacle.
Meanwhile, a few COVID warriors of Gandhi Hospital were surprised by the warm gesture of their neighbours. Superintendent of hospital M. Raja Rao, who also attends to COVID-19 patients, was felicitated by residents of his apartment at Trimulgherry on Sunday.
As he walked into the apartment, they showered flower petals on him followed by clapping of hands. A professor of General Medicine, he has been in the forefront right from the first COVID case in the State.
Also, nurse B. Sheetal Suhasini, who has been attending to patients since March, received a grand felicitation by residents of Priyanka Towers at Boiguda, on Sunday evening.
Mrs. Suhasini used this occasion to talk about her experience of being in the front line and explained about precautionary measures.
Tiring hours of duty
PG students attending to patients continue to stay away from their families. It has been more than one-and-a-half month that they are staying at hostels in the campus.
But, what is bothering them the most is wearing PPE kits for long hours. President of Telangana Junior Doctors’ Association (T-JUDA), Gandhi unit, Lohith Reddy said that their shifts go on for 8-12 hours.
“If we report at 9 a.m., we can take it off only at around 1 p.m. or later, to have lunch. We cannot go to the bathroom or drink water before that,” he said.
Another junior doctor M. Naresh said that due to these kits, they suffer from dehydration and skin irritation in the heat.
“The goggles and head shield we wear become foggy and the PPE and N95 mask do not allow us to exhale properly. It decreases our vision, causes hypoxia and stress, leading to headache. We are drained and exhausted by the end of the day. There were times when all I wanted to do was breath in some fresh air, and have water. But this responsibility does not allow this,” Dr. Naresh said.
Thanksgiving gesture
As a token of gratitude to healthcare professionals for fighting coronavirus with an unwavering commitment, a group of former servicemen, police and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel felicitated doctors and other frontline staff at the District Headquarters Hospital in Khammam on Sunday.
Doctors, nurses and staff, including sanitation workers of the government hospital, were honoured in front of the isolation ward at the entrance of the hospital in a short but lively programme held in conformity to social distancing guidelines.
A host of ex-servicemen led by Arun Kumar, Railway Protection Force Inspector K. Madhusudhan, several police officials and NCC cadets showered flower petals on the coronavirus warriors amid thunderous applause, on Sunday.