26Digital shares the experiences of an emergency physician in the battle against the new coronavirus in Las Tunas.
Las Tunas, Cuba - At the end of January this year, he returned from the People's Republic of Angola, where he had been teaching at a medical university since 2017. Previously (2009), he had been in Venezuela, but this time practicing his specialty. Master in Medical Emergencies and Assistant Professor Dr. Elio Zayas Barbán, with 30 years of experience in his career, knows the face of danger very well, but faces it.
“I work directly with the Emergency System, which means that we "deal" closely with patients who may be suspicious or prone to COVID-19. They say that we emergency physicians are always prepared when minutes count, now much more so, because we keep waiting for any call or question from the population and, no matter how rough the road, we head for their place of residence."
“Recently we had to move to a place known as La Cucaracha, in San Miguel, that is on the road to Covarrubias. It was 1:00 am when we received the call that there was an infant a few months old with respiratory manifestations. At that hour all the neighbors were sleeping, imagine the desperation."
Finally, the situation was not as we thought and the baby did not show any alarm symptoms, as we had been informed by phone. However, we prefer to think about the bad things in order to act well and quickly; when it comes to saving lives, we cannot be confident," he said.
Prepared and alert, two keywords in his day-to-day life. And the dialogue continues: “To determine if we are in the presence of a possible affected person, we check if he shows a dry cough, nasal secretion, high fever, malaise and, in addition, if he has an epidemiological genius, that is if he has had contact with people who have the disease or recently arrived in the country. The clinic is very important in that sense to know if we are facing the signs of that entity or, for example, if it is only asthma."
According to him, not all ambulances are used to transport cases susceptible to the new coronavirus. We have well-organized ones for that purpose and, after the transfer, they are disinfected to avoid transmissibility. Generally speaking, there are three types of vehicles. The first is for basic transfers (people with non-life-threatening situations), such as a medical shift for someone who cannot go by himself.
The second is the intermediate life support ambulance, which is prepared with qualified personnel to give first aid: an emergency worker and a paramedic-driver. It transports patients who may need oxygen or some kind of medication along the way. And finally, there is the advanced life support ambulance which transports people who need life support for their lives, such as those whose state of consciousness is affected, who show breathing and/or circulation disorders. It is therefore manned by an emergency physician, by the most senior and experienced nurses, as well as the most skilled paramedic-drivers in both fields.
He told me that they are organized through a command center (number 104), where skilled people work, who determine the type of transport for each case in question. When I asked him his assessment of the Cuban population's perception of risk before the COVID-19, he reminded me of two phrases of Martí that marked his path. The best medicine is the one that prevents and before picking up the broken bones of those who fall down the cliff, it is better to tell them: stay away from it.
Elio applies the teachings of Cuba's National Hero on his daily work. Hence, values such as humanism, solidarity and prudence are essential in his life. For this reason, he does not cease to advise his fellow countrymen.
“All measures that are publicized by official means must be taken into account. Social isolation, first of all, but also constant hand washing, the use of masks, teaching our children hygiene routines and keeping them well informed. Knowledge helps to increase the perception of risk, it is necessary”, he concluded.
