RMO Day 5 - Screening and Honesty — Daily Dose of Chemo

Even the great Dato Rozali Wathooth signed his declaration everyday

In a time of crisis, time efficiency is of the essence. And we rely on fast, accurate information from our subjects to deal with things in a scripted, almost algorithmic fashion. And fast and precise history taking would never be possible without the participation of the public and patients. We try our best to make this process as transparent and straightforward as possible, using simple terms and language.

We find that doing this in two phases would improve the accuracy and speed of the information gathered. Therefore at SJMC, everyone passing the doors would be required to fill in a declaration form, have their temperature scanned and asked again the same questions which were written on the form.

The usually busy driveway at SJMC was empty this morning

But that can only do so much. You can always not disclose the information, and unfortunately, this may have caused death and problem in our fight to fight COVID-19.

The answers we wanted to gather were simple and would help us to help you at the end of the day. We would like to learn about your travel history, possible contact with possible carriers, know your symptoms in more details as well as gather information about your general well-being and medical conditions which you may have. Nothing probing. And the answer will help us to act fast.

I understand the apprehension on your part that we may over-react to your answers. However, at a time like this, that information is important. There has been numerous incidence where vital information had been with-held. As a result, the front-liner who are there to help you suffered unnecessary exposure. They will be subjected to quarantine and the uncertainty of contracting this possibly lethal infection. The health facility might also be crippled by this lack of manpower or closure for cleaning, and the cascading effect would be other aspects of hospital care in patients not related to COVID-19 would be compromised.

The message I am imparting is, be truthful during screening and abide by the directions of the screener. They are there to help you and more importantly, form the first line of defence for the entire health of the facility and its staff. You do not want to infect the Staffs and Doctors who would literally give their life to help you. But they are also human, with father, mother, children and are generally outstanding members of society. And I am sure you are too.

This is killing me. It’s street photography weather!

In our small ways, all of us have our part to play as we fight this plague, in shaa Allah.