Doctor kitted out in full PPE gear shows what it takes to fight coronavirus
THESE photos of a doctor clad in full personal protective equipment (PPE) shows just what it takes to fight coronavirus.
Proud husband Josh Dhaliwal, shared the photos of his wife, Dr Rosie Kalsi, in a bid to showcase the huge risk doctors are taking every day to treat Covid-19 patients.
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It comes as the Government has been under constant pressure to ensure that PPE is distributed to frontline NHS workers.
Mr Dhaliwal, a media sales manager, posted the snaps of his wife, 42, on LinkedIn while she worked overtime one day as a consultant at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester.
They show his wife wearing full protective kit, including:
- Hairnet - to prevent medics picking up traces of coronavirus and transporting them around in their hair
- Visor - heavy duty plastic shields the face, reducing the risk of breathing in particles of the virus
- Full body gown - these should be single use, those in extreme cases some medics are being forced to clean and reuse some PPE
- Disposable gloves - slash the risk of spreading the deadly virus via hands touching contaminated surfaces
- Air-purifying respirator - the device (not worn by all medics) filters and delivers clean air into specially adapted headgear
Posting the photos, Mr Dhaliwal gave an insight into the immense strain his wife and other doctors are facing every day during the pandemic.
Alongside the photos, Mr Dhaliwal wrote: "To underline the commitment of all NHS staff to the patients in their care - my wife just phoned, 14 hours after she left for work this morning to say she won't be home tonight because she's on call and can't leave the patients (some of whom won't survive the night).
"I asked if she'd eaten and she told me not since the toast and coffee she had for breakfast."
Mr Dhaliwal also explained the equipment his wife was wearing may not be representative of what other NHS hospitals have.
The post was liked over 67,000 times and received thousands of comments from people across the world who wanted to thank Dr Kalsi and other NHS key workers for saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic.
Many were concerned that she may still not have had a chance to eat during her long shift.
Her husband added later: "To all those who have expressed concern that my wife might still not be eating on these long shifts - there has been an influx of donations from individuals, businesses and supermarkets that's included soup, biscuits, pizzas, takeaways, cakes and snack bars.
"The canteen is also now serving hot meals to medics on duty throughout the day."
She's programmed with death and disease on a daily basis
Josh Dhaliwal
Mr Dhaliwal later explained that he posted the photos out of pride for his wife.
He said: "She had shared a couple of photos of herself in her PPE and I thought it was like 'Wow, this is what you do at work', that this is the level of protection when dealing with Covid-19 patients.
"It's her job and she just gets on with it but I don't think she appreciates the risk associated with doing her job.
"She doesn't get stressed, it's part and parcel of her job, she's programmed with death and disease on a daily basis, it's just magnified at the moment, massively."
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Mr Dhaliwal admitted he looked forward to his wife coming home every day so he could read the kind messages to her.
Overwhelmed with the response, he added: "My wife finds the numbers hard to take in - and the one message she'd like to share with you all is that if you stay safe then you're not just protecting yourself, but all those people you love and respect around you!"
Other photos have shown doctors and nurses wearing rubbish bags around their bodies and mouths as makeshift PPE - amid the coronavirus crisis.
And other medics are said to have bought scrubs on Amazon or had friends knit them protective kit.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock would not apologise over PPE last weekend and denied the Government had been slow to stockpile crucial kit.
He insisted: “We now have record amounts of PPE that’s been put out into the system but until everyone gets the PPE they need then we won’t rest.”
He said it was impossible to set a date by which all frontline workers would get what they needed.
And he added: “It’s impossible because the quest is to get the right PPE to the right people on the front line at the right time across many millions of people across the NHS and social care.
“I’m glad to say that effort is moving in the right direction.”
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Mr Hancock hailed the “enormous effort” of those currently trying to source more gowns.
He said: “They often don’t get thanks, the procurement experts, because they’re not on the front line.
"But, by God, do we need them to make sure that we can get all that PPE.”