The Healers: Staring death in the eyes

“I completed MBBS and started my internship in 2020. I was working as a tutor in my medical college when Covid struck and all the interns were asked to engage in Covid duties. It was scary to begin my medical career amidst a pandemic.

When the first wave struck, the entire world was unprepared. We had little to no knowledge about the virus and it took us a significant amount of time to come up with appropriate SOPs. With India seeing a dip in the rate of infection late last year, we all hoped for the pandemic to be over. But unfortunately, the hesitation of people about following safety protocols or getting vaccinated brought us to where we are now. There is not one particular person to blame here, we as a community have failed. It was in our hands to prevent such a disastrous second wave.

This long fight against the virus has taken a severe physical and mental toll on all of us. The long gruelling hours wearing PPEs in extreme heat and the pain of not seeing our family have creeped up on us. I have chosen not to go home so as to prevent my family from getting infected.

I believe, at present, most of the doctors are more resilient. I remember one particular incident when I started working as an intern under a senior intensivist doctor who was in covid duty. He got affected once, got better and immediately rejoined Covid…