Long hours in PPE without breaks, no family time — lab technicians toil to get results right

THE INSIDER

Long hours in PPE without breaks, no family time — lab technicians toil to get results right

TOI Takes A Look At Struggles Of These Frontliners

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:10.06.2020

For the past three months, MM Vidya, 24, from Vyasarpadi, leaves her home early every morning and slips into a three-kg heavy Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as soon as she enters the lab.

“It’s so hot inside the PPE that one of us got heat boils,” said Vidya, a microbiologist at the government’s public health lab in Teynampet, who braves the relentless summer heat without even drinking water for eight to ten hours straight.

In the initial phase, Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) extraction from samples was done manually. Technicians had to sit for three hours in the same position causing a penetrating pain in their bones, Vidya added. An automatic extractor, procured three weeks ago, has made their lives better.

However, other jobs like sample and reagent preparation, actual PCR tests and analysis of results keeps them occupied throughout the day giving them no time to interact even with those seated next to them.

They take five-minute breaks in turns at the end of every session to sit and relax their muscles so that their concentration levels don’t drop.

Even when doctors and nurses had breaks after working at Covid wards for a week, this team, which is also dealing with live viruses, has been working 24/7 in three shifts as there was no replacement for them.

“The only break we took was this Sunday. Testing was put on hold for an hour so that we can have lunch together. This was to keep their spirits high,” said S Raju, their team head and deputy director at the Department of Health, who hasn’t seen his family in 40 days due to excess work.

Though some of his team members do go home, they don’t get time to interact with their families as they hardly have six or seven hours of sleep so that they can work the next day.

But they are advised not to watch TV channels back at home as news about doctors might create a mental block. Also, it is painful to see claims that our test results were dubious despite so much effort, Raju added.

“By the time we feel exhausted and pack up, we get 400 more samples. So we leave home only after clearing them,” said Vidya, who reaches home only after 9 pm everyday.

Men in her team take over and work all night to ensure that all test results are ready for the next day's report. The lab has so far tested ober 45,000 samples.

THANKLESS JOB: Laboratorians go about their work without even drinking water for long hours