“We are the last people patients see before they close their eyes”

In a white robe and anesthetics in the center of the front: Many doctors are involved in the war in Corona, but those who are right in the heart of the battlefield are the anesthesiologists, who play one of the most difficult roles – treating critically ill patients, patients who will not live without their close care.

We met three doctors from the anesthesia and intensive care unit of the Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv: the senior doctors Dr. Or Goren and Dr. Shachar Shalev and the intern Dr. Reut Schwartz. They told us about the nature of the job, which is usually in the shadows; they also told how they feel When a patient needs to be informed that in a moment he will close his eyes, and is not sure that he will monitor them again.

Dr. Schwartz: “An anesthesiologist has several roles: Any action that requires anesthesia, sedation or something that is pain-relieving is something we perform.”

Dr. Goren: “I can find myself anesthetized premature, a 90-year-old man or a pregnant woman. We are also in the intensive care units, where the most difficult patients are. “

Dr. Schwartz: “Severe corona patients actually suffer from severe pneumonia. At some point the patient has difficulty breathing and needs lots of oxygen. “Because the lungs and the heart are connected, when there is great suffering in health, it immediately affects the heart.”

Dr. Goren: “Breathing and balancing blood pressure are our main areas of expertise, so the bulk of the burden of caring for severe corona patients rests on our shoulders.”

Dr. Shalev: “Most people are not happy about having a soul tube stuck in their mouth. Therefore, both to prevent suffering and to be able to feminize the patient and synchronize him with the soul machine, one must provide him with some level of blurring. This is an action that needs to be performed very quickly and correctly. If it is delayed, or if it is done inaccurately, the patient may die. “

The decision to anesthetize a patient is extremely difficult and is made in consultation with the doctors of the intensive care unit and the anesthesiologists along with the patients and their families.

Dr. Goren: “We are called to see someone in a difficult situation, and sometimes it takes us a quarter of an hour to explain to him what we are going to do. We drop on a person at once the understanding that he is going to be respirated for a long time, and maybe even connect to Akmo. “

Dr. Shalev: “These are conversations that I have had quite a few, and they are difficult, heartbreaking. You talk to a person you know towards what he is going. There are those who explicitly ask if they will die. “

Dr. Schwartz: “Some people say they are not interested in extending life. These are usually older people, and we respect that. We have ways to allow them to go into their world without suffering and pain. Some people are in very great distress: they are very scared, do not know if they will wake up, and when.

“There was a young man, 31, who wanted to talk to his kids before the anesthesia. It was the middle of the night, but he called his wife, and they woke up the kids, and then he couldn’t turn off the phone. I told him, ‘No problem, keep talking. “And fall asleep during the conversation. You will hear their voices in the background.” And so he falls asleep, when he hears the voices of the children and his wife. “

So basically, the last face the patient sees before he falls asleep is yours.
Dr. Schwartz: “Yes. And there were people I was the last person they saw before death. “

Dr. Goren: “This is a sacred moment for me. I’m the last person they talk to. Even before the vaccine era, when we were very scared, I always hugged the patients and shook their hand. This is a very scary moment. I think what happens to a person who is supposed to be respirated, and all he sees around him are people in full protection, and he only sees their eyes. Human touch is critical at this moment. “

Dr. Schwartz: “I had a religious patient, who was put to sleep on Saturday. He could not talk to his family, so he asked me to give them a message. That message was the last thing they heard from him. “

Dr. Shalev: “The hardest part is hearing about a deceased patient. I remember jumping into an older sick eye, which I did not have to treat, I was not tied to him at all, but I saw that he was suffering greatly, so I watched him. After a few hours I saw that he was covered with a blanket. he died. I don’t even know his name, but it made me really bad. “

This is a very difficult role mentally and emotionally. How do you deal with it?
Dr. Goren: “We all pay a certain price. Nothing passes without us taking him home with us. I get a lot of calls from friends and people who work with me saying, ‘Listen, this is very difficult.’ Some turn to psychological treatment. “

Dr. Shalev: “Try to get home, take off your uniform, shower and forget about everything. We also use black humor, sharing experiences with each other. One of the things we love most is getting pictures of a patient after he is discharged, seeing the person walking, talking. Sometimes they even come to say thank you to us. “

Dr. Schwartz: “We had a patient, a very nice man from Bnei Brak, who was hospitalized in the first wave, and for Rosh Hashanah he sent us pictures of him blowing the shofar. He was anesthetized, respirated, his lungs were in critical condition. To blow the shofar, he needs to take a deep breath. When we saw him do it, we were very excited. We understood that he was really recovering. “