By Graham Mabury, 882 6PR - Nightline, weeknights from 8pm
INTENSIVE Care Units are hi-tech places. Machines whirr, hum and beep. Monitors display the rhythms of life.
Bodily functions are traced in technicolour and patients sprout tubes from everywhere. The passing of time is marked by scans and tests.
I saw all this on a guided tour of the ICU at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. I was there for the official presentation of the funds raised by 6PR 882 and Community Newspapers for (you guessed it) vitally necessary hi-tech equipment.
It wasn’t technology that affected me, however, it was humanity.
Loved ones sat beside each bed, or gathered in small clusters of concern in ante rooms. I saw smiles, I saw tears. I saw concern and I saw relief.
What I did not see was abandonment or isolation.
Woven into the professionalism of their work was a simple, pivotal message to patients and their loved ones from the ICU team – you are not alone.
They accomplish this despite enormous strains on resources and a constant stream of life-and-death situations. In the words of the nurse specialist conducting the tour: “Our task is to turn chaos into organised chaos.”
They do it while isolating dangerous, highly contagious micro organisms and encouraging transplanted organs back into full function.
“Each of us brings something unique – each can connect effectively with different patients, bringing them different things,” she explained.
But when she began to talk about the stresses of the previous year, the extra shifts and countless extra hours worked by the staff in dealing with the H1N1 threat, her voice broke.
“I’m due for a break,” she said, then regaining her composure, “seems it’s really necessary.”
Yes it most certainly is. Please be sure you care for the carer. What they bring is too precious, too hard-earned to be lost to burnout.