During my house job year, a colleague of mine had a prick from a needle that had been used on a patient who had Hepatitis B viral infection. This occured at night when he had to secure an IV access for this patient at night without electricity. We as his colleagues had to contribute money in order to get him the hepatitis B immunoglobin. We were able to put together about 90,000 Naira and then the ARD in the hospital supplemented the amount. Altogether, we raised about 150,000 naira to get the immunoglobulin which was administered to this doctor.
This is a typical example of the health hazard that one can be exposed to in an occupational space like ours.
As i narrate this, another experience comes to mind. This happened directly to me. My team was on call in the surgical emergency still during my house job year when we admitted this man who had been involved in a road traffic accident (RTA) and had been diagnosed of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). He was behaving and talking irrationally that one would think he was manic. About 5 men had to hold him down for me to secure an IV access even though he was restrained. The next day, this “precious” IV line had tissued and needed to be reset. My very gentle superior wanted to set it but didn’t want the paparazzi of having so many people hold the patient down. He wanted just 2 people to restrain the patient. In his opinion, the patient would cooperate. I tried to warn him that this patient was “hyper” and wouldn’t stay still but all my warnings fell on deaf ears.
Just at the first attempt, the patient struggled like i predicted and my superior pricked himself with the needle which had already been partially inserted into the patient’s vein. He was angry and left to wash his hand and do some first aid. ‘I told you so’, I muttered under my breath.
While he was gone, the 2 men restraining the patient relaxed for a bit so the patient could stop struggling. As soon as they let him go, he grabbed my breasts as i was standing close to him. What i felt was a cocktail of shock, anger, disgust and pain. ‘If I slap him now, they will say i have assaulted a patient’, I thought to myself. I just walked away angrily while his relatives scolded him.
I could also talk about having to attend to patients being evaluated for suspected viral haemorrhagic fevers without a personal protective equipment (PPE), or having a psychotic patient admitted in the general medical ward, poorly restrain and his relatives beckoning on the doctor to come and attend to him. The list is endless.
In our line of duty, just as in all professions, there are hazards.
Some directly affect our health while others put us in the way of danger or give us terrible memories.
In all, we must protect ourselves against health hazards and dangers to our body and mind.
Here are some tips to keep us SAFE while we work:
🌹Insist on having the right protective equipment before you attend to any patient be it PPE, gloves, boots, nose masks, etc
🌹Do not attend to violent patients, poorly restrained.
Insist that all possible measures are implemented to make your work safe, easy, possible and successful.
🌹Basic amenities should be provided before you start your work. Your life is as important as that of the patient’s.
🌹Always work as a team. You need all the help you can getin carrying out this noble task of saving lives. Listen to your colleagues.
🌹Report all difficulties to the appropriate authorities. Do not be bullied into putting your life at risk. There will always be someone else to do the job you want to play hero for, should any harm come to you.
🌹Pray! Pray!! Pray!!!
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