CAMAGÜEY.- José Antonio Rodríguez Igarza's professional life has multiplied with the deafening sound of ambulance sirens for the young nurse from Camagüey, due to the commendable work he performs during the transfer of suspected and positive cases to the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus .
With barely three decades of life, he recognizes the indelible mark that this intense work has left in his training as a worker of the Integrated Medical Emergency System (SIUM) in the province of Camagüey.
He had never had a similar experience before, he stated categorically while detailing moments lived since last March, a month marked on the calendar for being the beginning of the incidence of the pandemic in the Caribbean nation.
I do not have words to describe that moment when I knew that I should be very close to a sick person, I had the feeling that my body was getting cold, but this is my profession and I made the movement of the patient, although with fear, he said.
Sometimes the days go by quietly, however, on others we have taken patients from the Octavio de la Concepción y de la Pedraja Military Hospital and to the Amalia Simon Surgical Clinic - both in this city - when they require a tomography, he exemplified.
The return of convalescent patients to their homes is another of the daily tasks undertaken by SIUM nurses and paramedics in the eastern territory and that, like the rest, requires excellent training from each of the specialists, especially those from intensive care.
It is important to have a series of knowledge, we are at the expense of what may happen in the transfer, we cannot act with indecisions, for which the handling must be carried out instantly and without nervousness, especially taking into account the patient's state of health.
0510 rostro 1He also highlighted the relationship that prevails between him and his partner Rolando Peláez Montalván, with almost a decade of work also behind the wheel of ambulances, currently in times of COVID-19 in the vehicle identified with the number 6007, belonging to the health transport base of te system in that province.
Compliance with biosafety measures and the correct use of protection means constitute one of the main elements to prevent the spread of the dangerous pathogen, he commented, and at the same time assured that while the precautions dictated by the health authorities are adopted, it should not exist fear of getting infected.
After each trip in service of the car, it is disinfected with 0.5 percent sodium hypochlorite, spreading that solution and letting it act for about 30 minutes, then it is cleaned with water and dries well, and waits for the time to use it again, he specified.
Behind the rapid response of the professionals dedicated to dealing with emergencies and urgencies, the performance of the experts of the coordinating table - located in the health transport base in the provincial capital - is essential during the present epidemiological situation and in the face of imminence of the other needs of the population.
Away from family members, the nurses and paramedics of the ambulances also complete 14 days engaged in saving lives, like others who defy the pandemic in the red zone of the assistance units, and then remain isolated for the same day in centers equipped for that purpose.
A humanistic and altruistic work, also sacrifices, of the service workers of the Integrated Medical Emergency System in Camagüey, another of the key pieces that the Cuban health system has in the effective and rigorous confrontation against COVID-19 and where like that in the hospitals, in the red zones, young people abound.
- Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez