The 335th Night of Memory - 8

Health Defenders

Sepideh Kholoosian
Translated by M. B. Khoshnevisan

2022-10-25

The 335^th program of the Night of Memory was held in the Sooreh Hall of the Art Center on Thursday 5^th of Khordad 1401 (May 26, 2022) attended by the physicians and the staff of the health defenders and hosted by Davood Slaehi. The families of the martyrs of health defenders, the medical health staff and a number of volunteers in the area of health were present in the ceremony, talking about the memoirs of the breakout and ascension of the corona pandemic.

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The eighth narrator of the show was Mrs. Narges Fakhari from the treatment staff of Massih Daneshvari Hospital who said of her memories during the Corona era: We were among the first hospitals that rolled up our sleeves and wore the clothes described by Haj Agha Salimian and waited for the patients to come. One morning, a clip went viral on Instagram with the theme that a corona patient came and died in Farmaniyeh Hospital. See what clothes they have worn and are moving the patients. The staff were very scared after watching that movie. Our ward was the infectious one. When we had H1N1[1], the only ward that received these patients was ours.

I told my colleagues, "Whatever you do, the responsibility is finally on us, and we are the ward that should accept these patients. We prepared them with these talks. I was considered as the mother of the ward, and as the head nurse, I was the first person who wore the special clothes, but over time, very strange things happened. When the patients came, even the watermen did not bring food into the ward. Anyone who came into the ward, the admission was done only by the nursing team. There were no more medical documents and the discharge guys did not come. Just like now when I say that the treatment staff's lungs have a filter, when everywhere is closed and the air is polluted, the treatment staff must be present and even if they are on leave, it will be canceled.

At that time, I said that we should do the work ourselves. I swear that even at 10 or 12 o'clock at night, the staff could not find a rental car and no one sent a car to Massih Deneshvari Hospital. The services did not come either. We also had such problems.

There was a good talk about jihadi guys. They really shined. There were so many patient admissions in the ward that we really didn't know what to do. The nursing staff had to do their work and we could not leave our work to jihadi guys; But we could ask them for help in terms of services so that at least the patients do not sleep on contaminated beds. The service department called me and said: What kind of force do you need? I said: We want a force that at least washes the beds. But it must be a force that has some strength to be able to cope with it. They sent two jihadi forces to us. They came and introduced themselves, and from what was written on their clothes, we understood that they were among the guys of the shrine defenders. I said: The beds have not been washed for some time and have only been disinfected. Anyway, it's an infectious ward and if you want to do something, come on, let's start.

I asked them to wash and disinfect the surfaces. They also started. We ourselves were not allowed to take off the filter masks to eat. We didn't even drink anything. While working, as we were running, I said to the guys: I will send each one of you to eat something in any possible way. I was forced in this case and even sent the personnel by force. I said to myself: Who are these people? People who were even part of the staff sometimes left, but they have come and stayed. At the same time, I talked to one of them while taking a break, and I asked: What are you doing? He said: I am an aerospace engineer. I remembered that I had sent him so much up and down the ladder that he had become very exhausted!

I envied him a lot and said to myself, "Bravo to him, we are medical staff. When I came to become a nurse, I swore that I would not leave my job under any circumstances, and whether the patients were infected or not, whether there was power or not, or whatever, I would continue to work. But what kind of people you are? The other one had a doctorate in civil engineering and is still with us. They are both educated and very capable. We got and used several bi-peps and monitors Through them.

Once, it was the birth anniversary of Imam Zaman (may God hasten his reappearance). I wanted to come to work. The hospital had told me that I could rest on this day; but I had not agreed. I had made a deal with Imam Zaman that day and although I was in a lot of pain like all my colleagues, I decided to go. After we took off the special clothes, because of the sweat we had underneath, we would get severe body pains when the wind hit us. That day I said to Imam Zaman: I would like to be here today for your pleasure. I also asked the hospital not to set working hours or pay me. I do this for the love of my Imam Zaman. I was in so much pain that day that when I bent down to put on my shoes, I could not straighten my back. The work of that day was done and my shift was over. It was a good day. About 8 people were discharged and we were very happy. I was very tired when I wanted to go back. But they called from the nursing office and said: A research group has come. Are you ready to come? I said: Since we have come this far, we will stay again to share our experiences. When I went there, I saw that a group of rehabilitation medicine and masseurs had come. I couldn't believe it at all. I said: O my Imam Zaman; I wanted to work for you today freely and without reproach, but you treated me in a different way. And right here, I remembered this poem:

Every service I did was free without reproach

O God, don't leave any servant without favor