Recently, a Malaysian medical officer took to her Facebook page to pour out her frustrations after her pregnant patient failed to comply with the Movement Control Order (MCO) SOPs, which resulted in her (the patient) testing positive for Covid-19. The post has since gone viral.
Doctor Tasha explained in her post that she was feeling extremely frustrated and drained after the incident that occurred yesterday (25 May).
“I hardly share what happens at work but today I am feeling extremely frustrated and drained. My nurse took this picture at 4am today while we were waiting for a baby to be delivered. This is me.
I was having a challenging call, to begin with as there were few really ill babies keeping my team and me busy all night. We were working continuously from 8am in the morning (the day before).
At 3am , we received this call asking us to ‘standby’ for a baby who is going to be delivered via C-Section. Standby is when the paediatric team is present at birth to ensure resuscitation is done if required and the baby is okay post-delivery,” Dr. Tasha said in her post.
She then explained that when a patient goes in for a c-section operation, a minimum of 10-15 doctors and staff is needed just to run the operation theatre and conduct the procedure smoothly. This includes personnel from the anaesthetic, obstetric & paediatrics teams.
The patient went “visiting” during Raya
Dr Tasha continued saying, “Ideally, we don’t favour operations being done at 4am as we have fewer doctors and staff working at this time. If emergencies occur, there is less help available and everything becomes more stressful.
However, if a baby is in distress or the mother is unwell, then yes – it is an indication to proceed for an EMERGENCY c-section regardless of time.”
However, according to Dr Tasha, this wasn’t entirely the cause for last night’s 3am c-section.
“Last night’s operation took place because the mother was a ‘probable covid-19 patient’. Her covid RTK screening test came back positive.
When we asked her how was this possible, her reply was that she went ‘visiting/travelling’ during Raya. Her relatives were unwell and yet she ‘chose’ to visit them. She ‘chose’ to go to their houses, not wear masks continuously, not maintain distance and basically not follow proper SOP.
It didn’t stop there. She came back home and wasn’t feeling too well, however she still had relatives/friends come over to her own house for ‘visiting’.”
“Zero consideration was given, zero awareness was present”
Dr. Tasha poured out her frustration after last night’s incident at work as she was appalled by how one can be this oblivious.
“It frustrates me that throughout this ordeal, she couldn’t spare 2 minutes to think about how this affects her unborn baby. Forget thinking about us frontliner strangers but she didn’t realise that if she is COVID positive, it changes her entire delivery experience,” Dr. Tasha explained.
According to her, if the patient is positive for Covid-19, her baby will have to be isolated from the mother after delivery and the newborn will have to undergo a series of tests and swabs just hours after being born.
“If her baby tests positive, she didn’t think of the possible harm she brought to her child. She didn’t think of the number of resources that will be used just to facilitate her one delivery because of her lack of consideration to follow SOP.
Zero consideration was given, zero awareness was present.”
Having to fight this battle alone
Dr. Tasha expressed that at this point, she feels tired and demotivated.
“It is tiring when you feel you have to fight this battle alone and some ‘people’ (rakyat) are least bothered to think and play their role in this.
They are least bothered to help you fight this and flatten the curve. They rather listen to fake news, disregard SOPs, lie to cross borders, and in result continue spreading the virus,” she said.
She pointed out that just yesterday, Malaysia recorded over 7,000 new cases, the highest number ever recorded to date.
“It is because there is ZERO awareness and consideration from some. At this point despite 2 weeks of MCO, cases are still rising.
We can’t do this alone, we will fail if you don’t do your part. To everyone reading this, I beg you – Please do your part”
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know in the comment section below!
Also Read: JUST IN: Malaysia Records Highest Daily Cases With 7,289 New Covid-19 Infections
