COVID-19 battle: Swab collection a high risk job, says doctor
The process of swab sample collection of a person doesnot take more than 30 to 40 seconds, but it is a "high riskjob", Dr Pushkar Dahiwal, who collects 80 to 100 swab samplesin a day at the government hospital in Aurangabad, told .
"We work for three days and then remain self-quarantined for 14 days," he informed.
During the six-hour duty, doctors have to keep wearingthe personal protective equipment (PPE) and amidst the fastpaced work, they do not even get a chance to drink water, hesaid.
"We need to finish the work in a short time to avoidcontact with patients and also with those who come to givetheir swab samples," the doctor said.
A 10 to 12 cm long stick is used to collect samplefrom a person's throat, while the stick used for collectingsample from nose is comparatively longer and thinner, he said.
"Before the person coughs or sneezes, we need tofinish sample collection. Being a dentist, I have the practiceof handling the patient's mouth area," he said.
Dahiwal also said that at times they need to counselcoronavirus suspects as some of them think they dont have theinfection, but carry a fear in mind.
"Some of the people think the test is somethingdifferent and dangerous. But, we explain the procedure to themso that there should be no need to collect another sample ofthe person," Dahiwal said.
The nurse and other accompanying staff also need tostay alert as the swab samples are to be sealed immediatelyand kept in a proper storage facility, he said.
"If the swab sample falls, it would be a problem. Allthese things have to be completed in a very short span oftime. So, there is no scope for mistake," he added.
Dahiwal also recalled that he took care of victims ofthe 26/11 terror attack in 2008 at the Saint George Hospitalin Mumbai.
"I left the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus inMumbai just 20 minutes before the attack began. At that time,we had fear the attackers may come from any side. Thatincident keeps coming to my mind every time when I collectswab samples of suspected coronavirus patients," he said. AWGK GK