From manning the international borders to delivery of food items to ensuring safety in quarantine facilities, Desuups have come to the forefront in this fight against the pandemic in the country. Some of them will now be deployed as nurse assistants in case the COVID-19 situation in the country becomes worse. Some five hundred Desuups have been trained through the Desuup Plus program across the country. One such training ended in Bumthang on Sunday.
28 Desuups from Trongsa and Bumthang were certified as Desuup Plus on completion of the six-day training. They were taught about checking basic vital signs of patients, isolation ward waste management, dead body management and proper wearing and removal of Personal Protective Equipment among others.
“If we reach a point where the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients becomes unmanageable, the health sector will become very stretched. There won’t be enough doctors and nurses to take care of all the patients. As per the plan, for every ten patients, a Dessup Plus will be deployed if a situation like this occurs. For instance, if community quarantine and isolation have to be activated like in Jomotsangkha and Merak, Desuup Plus will take the role of nurses,” said Dr Kipchu Tshering, instructor for Desuup Plus programme.
During the training, Desuups were also trained on stress management and maintaining their psychological well-being while on duty.
“Wearing PPEs for a long duration will cause us discomfort and physical stress such as defecation pressure because we can’t remove the PPEs once we have worn them until the duty is over. This will also suffocate us, especially in hotter places. The instructors here at the training, for instance, taught us to wear inner wears that would best suit the climate and weather,” said Desuup Sumtak Tenzin.
“When we are deployed in quarantine facilities, we have to deliver meals to the people in quarantine and also dispose of their waste, that way we could be also exposed to the virus. Through this training, we now know how to properly wear facemasks and gloves so that we don’t get infected by the virus as well,” added Desuup Sonam P Ongchu.
Besides Bumthang, the program which began last year has trained Desuups in Thimphu, Paro, Punakha and Chukha as well. Similar training is being conducted in Monggar and Trashigang. It will be carried out in Tsirang soon. The Health Ministry and the KhesarGyalpo University of Medical Sciences are jointly conducting the training.
Kipchu, Bumthang.
