Ambulances lining up with patients, 12-hour shifts, limited resources and deteriorating mental health are some of the many challenges Dr Alisha Akhani has been dealing with fresh out of her MBBS course
For Dr. Alisha Akhani, a 22-year-old intern, handling the second wave of the pandemic has been a completely new experience
A twenty-year-old woman who was five months pregnant was rushed to Shree Krishna Hospital in Gujarat’s Anand district in the last week of April. She tested positive for Covid-19 and, according to the doctors, was a high-risk patient. With her oxygen levels constantly dipping, doctors immediately sedated her and put her on the ventilator. The mother-to-be was lying on the bed with tubes in her mouth and IV lines running from her wrists. Since her condition was still deteriorating, the doctors had to deliver the baby through C-section. The baby didn’t survive but the doctors kept battling to save the mother.
This was a completely new experience for 22-year-old Dr Alisha Akhani, an intern at the hospital. Fresh out of college after finishing her MBBS course in March 2021, she has already joined the fight of the second wave of Covid-19. "We were still hopeful to save the mother. I sent her blood samples, and after finishing my 12-hour shift, I went back to my room in the morning. When I came back at night, I discovered that the girl who was just two years younger than me, hadn't made it. I had just seen her 12 hours go. I was devastated and numb. I didn't know who to tell this to. Everyone around me was busy with their work. There was a new patient on her cot already, some 40-year-old gentleman,” recalls Dr Akhani. “I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and resumed my duty. For I had to do my job for the sake of the other patients.”
Dr Akhani is one of the 35 interns out of a batch of 135 who was assigned Covid-19 duty. Four days before joining, the interns were given training on donning and doffing PPE kits, various oxygen delivery devices, the workings of the ICUs, how to take Covid-19 samples, and so on. “Frankly speaking, I was scared. The first time I wore a PPE kit and went inside the ICU, I was afraid of even going near the patients. I always knew that we'll be called for Covid-19 duty, it was only a matter of time. My family, especially my grandparents, were worried about my safety. I have extremely supportive parents, which has made my internship ten times easier,” says Dr Akhani who has been on Covid-19 duty since April 24 and every day she deals with 40 patients in the ICU.
A temporary field hospital outside Shree Krishna Hospital in Gujarat's Anand district
The amount of mental stress these junior, resident and intern doctors have to go through as they treat Covid-19 patients is almost unimaginable. Dr Akhani tries to cope by engaging herself in activities she really likes. “Over the years, I have developed some really strong coping mechanisms. One of the things that medical school teaches you is how to stay calm in a high pressure situation. Everybody needs an outlet. For me, it's sports. Be it basketball, badminton, or just simply running. I try to take out at least an hour of my day to do that. Apart from that, my friends and I get together and have a rant session every day!” she says.