In The Trenches - Personal Reflections From The Frontline

Thursday, 30 April 2020 02:37

Medical Lab Technician Ellen Earl in full personal protective gear. (submitted)

The frontline workers of the COVID-19 pandemic are being tested like never before. The first installment of this series are the reflections of Medical Lab Technician Ellen Earl.

OXFORD COUNTY - "Be patient, be tolerant, and be kind, especially to yourself." It's sort of a mantra that Medical Lab Technician Ellen Earl says to herself on a daily basis.

As the general population copes with the COVID-19 pandemic, frontline workers are finding their own ways to deal with the ever changing world.

While her role hasn't changed much, Earl finds herself to be more mentally and psychologically exhausted than before the pandemic. She performs medical procedures on patients including phlebotomy, ECG's, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and specimen handling.

"In our field, we are already especially cautious and have to treat all samples as potentially infectious, but it's now a mental battlefield having to treat every individual as potentially infectious. I tend to come home from each work day, and have to take a mental break to wind down from being constantly on guard."

Earl says the added processes in place are time consuming and repetitive, but she knows it is what is required to protect herself and the community.
"There is so many more disinfection processes now. Constant screening of every single person coming into the office. This also includes staff. Extra communication with customers, including reassuring patients. The new measures and protocols are the new normal at the lab."

So, how does a frontline worker stay positive and confident while doing their job?

"For me, meditation, yoga, and relaxation exercises work. Plus, I am confident that the measures being asked of all of us will be effective. It is more work but it is important. The thing is, unfortunately we do see too many individuals ignoring measures, or not thinking about the overall big picture. It's new to a lot of us and we're all feeling our way through it."