Stress is mounting for medical professionals as they struggle to access basic personal protective equipment to face the coronavirus pandemic, including Macedon Ranges’ own.
A local doctor, who did not wish to be identified, said supplies were shockingly low and healthcare workers were now resorting to desperate measures to feel safe in their work environment.
“We’re all getting a bit nervous. There’s a lot of anxiety among staff and part of that is we feel don’t have optimal PPE. The further we get into this, the harder it is to get,” Dr Smith* said.
“We have had to source our own disposable PPE from wherever we can – I’ve been knocking on doors of beauty salons and veterinary clinics to ask for face masks. Some are sourcing goggles from safety stores. That’s how desperate we’ve become.”
Dr Smith has been providing vital care at both a metropolitan fever clinic and regional GP clinic, where medical workers are feeling stressed and ill-equipped as they are advised to rationalise PPE.
Dr Smith said suspected infectious patients had been treated at a drive-through swabbing site and if unwell presented to urgent care or an ambulance was called.
“Ambulance workers arrive in hazmat suits with N95 face-masks and face-shields, and we’ve just been around the patient in a gown – if we’ve got that,” Dr Smith said.
“We’re wearing even less protective clothing now than we would for an infectious patient on an ordinary day. We are less protected than when we assess a patient that has gastro. This is something I have not seen before.”
The Australian Government has sent the army in to help Australia’s only current manufacturer of surgical masks, Med-Con based at Shepparton, which is aiming to double or triple its production.
It has also issued a callout to the wider manufacturing industry to ask who else might be able to move into PPE manufacturing, while releasing stocks from the reserves in the national medical stockpile.
The Victorian Government is preparing to spend $10 million to purchase 100M gloves, 10M masks and 1.5M gowns in addition.
The current lack of PPE has forced Dr Smith to consider resigning from the clinic to protect patients at the doctor’s primary GP clinic role.
“At the moment I do not feel safe at work and I am putting my other patients at risk if I continue. I’ve never felt so disappointed in my whole career,” Dr Smith said.
“They keep saying PPE is on the way but we have no idea when it will be, how it will be distributed or whether PPE guidelines will be lifted.”
A nurse working in emergency at a regional hospital told the Express it was her first year working in emergency and she was concerned it might be her last.
“I feel like I am a soldier being put on the wall to fight but without a gun or anything to defend myself,” she said.
“We don’t have anything to cover our hair and ears, we don’t have booties, and our gowns are knee-high with the neck and back exposed. We are being asked to wear surgical masks instead of N95 masks.
“Patients are being brought to us by people in hazmat suits and then we have to treat these patients in just a gown when we have to spend more time with these patients. You can’t look after patients at 1.5 metres; you need to be able to be close to them.
“The stress level at work is quite high. We are trying to find a way to deal with it.
“Some people are very relaxed. They don’t think it will come to us and they don’t think it will affect us. We have already had three cases in this area. Most doctors say it’s just the beginning.”
Both doctor and nurse interviewed are among the many who have found support from Ranges Rescue, a Riddells Creek based group working to help fill the gap.
SEWERS MAKE SCRUBS
Healthcare professionals are turning to crafters in the Macedon Ranges to help them source protective gear as they face a supply shortage amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Dozens of sewers are helping to produce scrubs, gowns and caps from donated fabrics and carefully designed patterns with expert advice.
Leading the movement is Ranges Rescue’s Kate Nabarro who has been working with local healthcare professionals to understand their needs.
“Medical staff are extremely stressed about the lack of PPE and we want to take away some of that stress,” Kate said.
“We’ve seen in other countries facing this pandemic that medical workers have taken to using scarves as face masks and bin bags for gowns and we’d hate to see that happen here.”
The Riddells Creek based group formed in the wake of the bushfire crisis last summer to help sew hundreds of pouches for wildlife in care recovering from burns.
Now responding to a new crisis, Kate said sewers had been extremely busy sewing to order.
“I cannot believe how busy we have become in just a week. We are absolutely flooded with orders because these items have become so hard for medical staff to access,” she said.
The non-profit group is not charging for the work they do but is calling for donations and hard-wearing fabrics to keep the project going.
Kate believes by mid-April the group may receive an influx of orders that sewers will struggle to meet without supplies of fabric.
To offer support, visit the Ranges Rescue Facebook page.
*Not their real name.
