HERO: Anne Walsh, from Ardaneanig, Killarney, Critical Care Project Lead for COVID-19 in University Hospital Kerry is thankful to the public for adhering to Government restrictions.

EXCLUSIVE

By Michelle Crean

Hospital staff in Kerry are now living apart from their families in a bid to keep them safe from the highly infectious COVID-19 virus.

Killarney woman, Anne Walsh, who is Critical Care Project Lead for COVID-19 at University Hospital Kerry (UHK) hasn’t physically seen her family, including her two teenage children, for a month as she tries to protect them from potentially getting infected.

However, speaking exclusively to the Killarney Advertiser yesterday (Thursday), Anne from Ardaneanig, said that she’s not the only one, as a lot of staff are now making the ultimate sacrifice.

“Obviously it’s a risk,” she said.
“We need to be mindful of keeping them safe. I have been living separately from my family for a month.”

She added that a number of staff are availing temporary accommodation for healthcare workers to reduce interactions with others and prevent the spread of Coronavirus in their residential settings and in the community. However, Anne herself remains in Killarney.
“A lot of families are living separately from their families.”

She added that she’s thankful to the public who are adhering to the Government guidelines, and also to her family for their understanding.

In the hospital, although they’ve had to move fast in learning new technologies and adjust as staff were redeployed to critical care and the emergency department, there is great camaraderie.

“There has been a lot of work done by staff in upskilling and preparing becoming more knowledgeable about the particular care required with COVID-19. It certainly is more fast paced between learning to use new technologies and there has been movement of various staff from the emergency department and critical care. But there’s great team spirit. The community is second to none, everybody is going above and beyond across different departments. Only for how serious and traumatic this is, the work has brought everyone together.”

And the community support, including the many donations of food and other items, is adding to that sentiment, she added.

“We’re very grateful. People are so kind and feel that they’re contributing something. Every single contribution is appreciated. We don’t have the same interactions with people as we previously did so it’s a great boost to morale.”
However, she was keen to add that the most important message to get across to the public from hospital staff is to keep adhering to the Government guidelines in order to keep the contagion at bay, which will greatly reduce the amount of cases being admitted to the hospital.