Where’s our promised PPE?

OLIVE GONZALES and RYAN HAMILTON-DAVIS

PRESIDENT of the TT Residential Care Association Caroline Ruiz is calling on government to fulfil a promise it made last month to help homes for the elderly get personal protection equipment (PPE) to deal more safely with residents, given the current threat of the covid19 virus.

She made the call in response to a statement by Dr Marlon Rampaul, consultant in internal medicine and infectious diseases, on the need for greater adherence to guidelines nursing homes must institute to protect staff and clients from the virus, which appears to be particularly deadly to the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

She told Newsday, “We cannot afford to purchase masks, because we are not a hospital, and masks are being sold for up to $300 for one. We have resorted to making our own masks.”

But other than the shortage of PPE, Ruiz said, care homes are generally well prepared.

“Prior to March 11, the TTRCA and all 169 of our members had everything in place. There was nothing the ministry (of Health) could have told us to put in place. If there was something that wasn’t in place, it is because we didn’t have the money to do it. We asked them (the State) to assist us with the PPE should there be any issue, when we spoke to them in March. As of now, we haven’t gotten any.”

Ruiz said although none of her members reported any staff or clients having respiratory issues that could be symptomatic of covid19, the association is taking all the necessary precautions. She expressed disappointment in Rampaul’s presentation at the ministry’s daily covid19 virtual press briefing last week, saying the ideas he shared came from the association.

She listed other measures not mentioned in Rampaul’s presentation which association members have implemented.

“We have staff who have been living at the homes for the past month: they have not left the controlled environment, in order to prevent themselves from being infected and bringing in the disease into the homes. We have been trying to accommodate those staff members who volunteered to stay.”

Ruiz said staff would normally work 12-hour shifts at the homes.

At last Friday’s virtual press conference, Rampaul announced the roll-out of policies specific to nursing homes. He said if the virus enters a nursing home, the numbers of death will surge. He said staff is required to wear surgical or cloth face masks and each nursing home should have a thermal scanner to check the temperature of all visitors. Anyone with a fever should be barred from entering and referred to a health facility.

All staff tending to a suspected patient must wear PPE including a gown, gloves, surgical facemask and eye protection. The county medical officer must be contacted immediately to visit the patient. Beds must be at least three feet apart and patients at a higher risk should be separated.

If any resident develops respiratory symptoms they should be given a facemask and be put in quarantine. Access to the homes by non-essential staff should be restricted and social distancing must be enforced.

Rampaul said the ministry had set up a committee to evaluate nursing homes across TT to ensure the policy is effectively implemented to limit possible transmission of the virus. He said a private home is a safer place to be.