Dr Christel Arnold-Day works in the ICU at Groote Schuur Hospital, and she shares what it has been like working in one of the most critical wards during the pandemic.
Cape Town, South Africa (26 July 2021) – Heroes of Groote Schuur is a Facebook page dedicated to highlighting the amazing people who work or visit the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.
The page is highlighting all the incredible work being done by the staff who keep everything running smoothly. Heroes featured on the page often have the most interesting jobs, especially now during the pandemic when so much is up in the air.
The latest features give the doctors and nurses at the hospital the chance to share their stories. This time they honour Dr Christel Arnold-Day, who stepped into the ICU just before Covid-19 landed in South Africa.
“I qualified as a neurosurgeon in 2018, and I decided to do the fellowship and specialise in ICU. After I qualified I worked in paediatric neurosurgery at Red Cross while I waited for the fellowship post in critical care to open up here. I started here in ICU in June 2019, but at the time, I was also 8 months pregnant, and I came back in October after maternity leave, just before Covid hit us. I’ve always had a love for critical care, but it’s quite a time to be part of the critical care family.
Covid has affected the ICU tremendously, but at the same time, I’m so proud to just be a part of the critical care team here at Groote Schuur. I still remember when we started preparation for Covid, hearing all the stories coming from China and Europe. I think we were all a little bit nervous and scared for what was coming our way, but nonetheless, the preparations went ahead, meetings were held, expansion plans were drawn up. Professor Joubert, the head of critical care, and his whole team here have just been amazing. Our hospital’s response – including our critical care team, supported by Groote Schuur management and all the other doctors at the hospital – has been amazing. It’s something I’ve been very proud of – how we’ve coped in the face of all the adversity and the difficulty and learning about a new disease and learning how to treat these patients and trying to accommodate the families. It’s been so hard on the families, not being able to see their loved ones who have been so critically ill. It’s been very tough, but I think the response from the hospital team and our province, and our country is something to be commended.
Covid has been hard from an emotional perspective, especially in the first wave. The registrars were working very, very hard, and there was a very heavy emotional burden. For example, trying to counsel families over the phone. That was terrible. You never want to speak to a patient’s family and give them bad news like that over the phone. I think it did take its toll emotionally, but again I think the hospital response to that was amazing. Psychiatry and psychology immediately got involved to provide support services, not only to the patients’ families but to the staff working in these Covid ICU areas. I don’t think it was expected, and it was so great when it was offered. Before we even thought that we needed it, it was there.
The level 4 restrictions make a huge difference to us. We see such an immediate effect on our trauma burden with the alcohol restrictions. Our violence and accident rate immediately dropped. This helps us a lot as it does free up resources in terms of nurses and doctors to come and help on the Covid ICU side. It’s been a tremendous help. I think when we heard that announcement being made by the president, we all had a sigh of relief.
The ICU team feels more like a family than work colleagues, and we manage to support each other well. When you have such great leadership in the department, in the hospital and in the province, then it’s easy to gather the courage and do what’s needed to be done. We carry each other.”
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