Independen --- The firing of 109 medical workers at the Ogan Ilir State Hospital (RSUD) in South Sumatera occurred in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic in the province.
It was Wednesday (20/5/2020), or a few days ahead of the Eid al-Fitr 1441 Hijri celebration, Ogan Ilir district head Ilyas Panji Alam issued a Decree (SK) for the Dishonorable Discharge (PDTH) No. 191/KEP/RSUD/2020 of the 109 medical workers in the hospital.
Alam took the seemingly harsh decision following a five-day strike by the medical workers from Friday (15/5/2020) to Tuesday (19/5/2020), after their demands for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), temporary shelter, and incentive—which the district head had promised at the beginning of the pandemic, was never met.
IR, an ambulance driver who had worked for seven years at the hospital, told Liputan6.com the string of events that led to his and his other colleagues’ dismissal.
On Thursday evening (14/5/2020), the staff at RSUD Ogan Ilir received information about incoming 16 Covid-19 patients from a subdistrict in the region. The patients were going to be referred to the hospital’s Emergency Room.
Previously, South Sumatera Governor Herman Deru appointed the RSUD as a Covid-19 referral hospital for the Ogan Ilir district.
Eventually, only five patients showed up.
IR admitted that many medical workers at the hospital’s ER had no clue about Coronavirus or the procedure in handling Covid-19 patients. They had received no information or training about it. The appointment of medical staff as Covid-19 Response Task Force at the hospital was also made behind closed doors.
“When the patients arrived, they were screened, submitted to lab check, and x-ray. At the time, there were three Covid-19 Task Force officers in the ER. The patients were supposed to be referred to Rumah Sehat Jakabaring Hospital in Palembang [capital of South Sumatera]. Because the three units for Covid-19 isolation rooms were already full,” said IR on Thursday (6/8/2020).
Appointing Non-Task Force Workers
RSUD Ogan Ilir Executive Director Roretta Arta Guna Riama ordered IR to drive all the five patients to Jakabaring Palembang, alone. Thinking that his primary responsibility to the hospital was only as an ambulance driver, IR believed that it would be better if someone from the Covid-19 Task Force to accompany him.
When he requested the Chief of Nurse at the hospital, Rika, to appoint someone, she only said that none of the officers could go. Rika finally asked a nurse who was not a Covid-19 officer to go with IR.
“The management instructed a nurse from the internal medicine unit, not a member of Covid-19 Task Force. It was not her job. Why forming a Covid-19 Task Force if they still use non-task force workers. We never agreed or told anything,” said IR.
Rika also refused to assign other Covid-19 workers, who were already off duty and were just resting at Ogan Ilir Covid-19 shelter.
Layered Hazmat
Confused and disoriented, IR tried to prepare himself before driving the patients to Palembang, probably all by himself. It was in sheer panic that IR decided to put on multiple layers of protective suit, including three hazmat suits, thinking that they would keep him from being infected with the Coronavirus.
On top of his work uniform, IR wore a raincoat, a hazmat suit, and two more layers of hazmat suit that belonged to his colleagues.
“We, in the ER, were only given one hazmat suit. So, we had to wash them every use. We also could only wear one mask per day. I took three of them, medical and surgical masks. I only wanted to protect myself because I was going to encounter Covid-19 patients,” IR continued.
Wearing five layers of clothing, IR still tried to find someone who would go with him to Palembang. Eventually, IR passed out in front of the ER, almost suffocating underneath his many layered “protection.”
The five Covid-19 patients had to wait. They were temporarily moved to the children’s unit until the next day.
Author by: Nefri Inge/D02
*This article was published in Bahasa at Liputan6.com in August 2020
