Healthcare workers work harder and longer in a public health crisis. At the front line of patient care, they are vulnerable to catching the coronavirus they are fighting.
Having gained valuable lessons and insights from the SARS outbreak in 2003, Singapore has put in place adequate measures to protect them in this current COVID-19 outbreak.
Dr Gan Wee Hoe (MPH ‘11), head of the department of occupational and environmental medicine at Singapore General Hospital and Adjunct Assistant Professor at SSHSPH, and Professor Chia Kee Seng share an overview of what is involved in caring for healthcare workers in a public health emergency.
It is important that healthcare institutions assure occupational health and safety, through a combination of infrastructural, procedural and personal protective equipment (PPE) measures.
In addition to physical health and safety, psychological well-being is also an area that needs to be managed, especially with reports of those in uniform experiencing social stigmatisation.
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(Header image from Gov.sg / Photos from Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Singapore General Hospital)