Beginning March 2020 the first few cases of COVID-19 were confirmed and the following months would affect the social life of many. I had the pleasure of interviewing an electronic health records specialist student who recently worked as a dialysis transporter at a nursing home. In this interview we get to meet 22 year old Isaiah Bangura who tells his story of how his life has been these past months. Isaiah who currently resides in the Bronx got into the medical field when he got certified as a medical assistant, he found it to be a decent start up financially. Outside from his work life he is an aspiring music producer, and artist. 

_{Figure 2. Illustration of Isaiah at work}

What is a Dialysis Transporter?

Well Isaiah gives a more detailed insight on that, but according to many job descriptions “the Dialysis Assistant provides safe, timely and courteous transport to and from the nursing home to the dialysis center. Assist Dialysis staff where necessary in the overall running of the unit and to maintain a clean and sanitary environment” (Salary.com, 2020). 

Under the Microscope

_{Figure 3. Queens Dialysis at the Pavilion} 

            I am a dialysis transporter at the Queens Dialysis at the Pavillion. I have been working for a year, but now I’m focusing on school full time to become an electronic health records specialist. Everyday I would transport patients that had Covid or were showing symptoms and had to be isolated, but still had to be treated as the other patients. It took a lot of time management and a good patient flow, while balancing to keep the environment sanitary and assisting the dialysis technicians. 

Behind the Blood and Balance 

Well working at the dialysis center I’m always surrounded by blood that is infected so I’m always trying to balance out my own safety while keeping up with my other duties. My workload has increased and more patients have died due to covid.

Up Before Sunset 

            A day at the dialysis center to consist of a strict schedule waking up at 4:00 in the morning to leave at 4:30 am for my 10 hour shift. The sleep schedule definitely made me feel isolated from my family and friends, and made me feel robotic. By the time I would wake up my girlfriend is still sleeping and I have to mentally prepare myself for a long day.  I have to have patients ready by six and have the lab prep 15 minutes before bringing down the first patient.This consists of sanitizing myself before I go in there, putting on a new mask, washing my hands and sanitizing the entire workstation for the dialysis technicians that are already there. I also have to make sure that two bathrooms are clean. I have to sanitize the chairs the patients sit on with bleach because sometimes they have blood. I sanitize all the floor handles and surfaces. After everything is sanitized it’s time to bring down the first shift of patients. I usually try to grab, if they are wheelchair residents, four at a time so that they can fit in the same elevator. Some patients have their own personal chair, that isn’t a wheelchair and those you can only fit two in an elevator. Then you have your vent patients. Vent patients are patients that have respiratory tubing hooked up to oxygen tanks. These patients are the most at risk for getting infections and transferring them to residents. They weekly have to have their wounds dressed. So they have respiratory tubes connected to their chest cavity that are hooked up to the oxygen tanks, to dress the wounds they are basically changing the bandages that cover the entry point of the tubes within the chest cavity. That responsibility belongs to the respiratory technician. When I have to bring down vent patients it is a two person job. I have to work directly with the respiratory tech or the doctor on that floor the respiratory patient resides. One person has to hold the tank and the other person pushes the patient. Once we get to the basement, because the dialysis center is in the basement of the nursing home the respiratory technician temporarily removes the tubes from the tank to move them to the dialysis station. To hook them up to the oxygen tanks that are at the dialysis station. 

The Outs and the Ins

            So within the shift, the first half of patients are inpatients. Inpatients are patients that reside within the facility either temporarily or for the remainder of their life. The out patients would come in the evening or afternoon, usually after lunch. This is to keep the inpatients and outpatients separate being that we are in a pandemic and many of the inpatients are coming from the hospital, have covid or had covid. Outpatients are coming from their homes, after their session they go home. Before leaving, my last tasks are to take out all the trash before I leave and I separate the linen from regular trash. I put special biohazard bins in storage to get thrown away especially because they are bins filled with needles and blood and bandages. I lock up the storage and make sure the technicians are fully stocked and all of the patients in my shift have chairs so that they can easily be rotated by the next dialysis transporter and who takes care of the evening shift. If everything is smooth, I would usually arrive around 4pm to shower, to eat, and sleep and restart for tomorrow. I try to get a decent amount of hours of sleep, but unfortunately don’t get the chance to spend time with my girlfriend or my cats. I know this pandemic has affected other health workers in this way too and it’s disheartening. 

His Future and the World’s  

            It’s important to give the necessary treatment and quality care to those who are pretentiously the most vulnerable in this pandemic. Being surrounded by people who are at the end of their cycles has really made me think about where I want to be at the end of my life

.

 I feel like the work is always going to be applicable. Maybe people in the future will look at how we did things now and find a more efficient way to do things when shit hits the fan.*Chuckles* I feel like healthcare professionals are doing absolutely everything they can do, and they are constantly on the front lines. Despite many public places closing and social distancing being implemented, those risks are still the same for health care workers. I think the government’s main priority should be towards making sure citizens are financially stable and in doing that, individuals will be less likely to have to try to work and put themselves at risk. Doing this would lessen the burden on the healthcare professionals who need to be able to balance their own lives to be efficient.  

           So balance is necessary just as much as blood is for our body, it’s something that everyone is trying to succeed at everyday.  

References

Figure 1. Shot clipart blood needle 3150906. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2020, from https://webstockreview.net/image/needle-clipart-hyperdermic/3150906.html

Figure 2. Illustration by me 

Figure 3. Rew, & Milstein, J. (2017, June 09). Fuchs family secures $59.8 bridge loan for Queens nursing facility. Retrieved December 15, 2020, from https://rew-online.com/fuchs-family-secures-59-8-bridge-loan-for-queens-nursing-facility/ 

Figure 4. Masks and Face Coverings. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2020, from https://www.newhopemn.gov/news___features/masks_and_face_coverings 

Figure 5. Balance Scale clip art Free vector in Open office drawing svg ( .svg ) vector illustration graphic art design format format for free download 85.54KB. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2020, from https://all-free-download.com/free-vector/download/balance-scale-clip-art_10655.html 

Salary.com, S., 2020. Dialysis Asst/ Transporter Job Opening In The Bronx, NY At Geripro Dialysis Consultants | Salary.Com. [online] Salary.com. Available at: <https://www.salary.com/job/geripro-dialysis-consultants/dialysis-asst-transporter/14a2ed78-243d-4b48-8fdb-27682c4a3275> [Accessed 15 December 2020].