An intensive care nurse has urged people to stay at home to give her and her colleagues across the UK any chance of beating coronavirus.
Annmarie Irvine endures long intensive shifts of one-to-one care every day in sweltering PPE - and admits the pandemic is worse than anything she's faced in her 18 years on the job.
The 43-year-old, who works in ICU at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, said despite everything, nurses never deviate from the critical care standards they've always relied on.
Speaking to the Daily Record in light of Nurse's Day, Annmarie said: “People need to get the message they need to stay at home.
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“Just because you can’t see this virus doesn’t mean to say this isn’t real.
“We see first hand patients who are really ill.
"Lots of them are dying. We just have to do our best to help but by following the rules people can make sure there will be intensive care beds free for when they are needed.”
She said the spike in cases was a shock but one of the biggest changes in dealing with the epidemic was the introduction of PPE.
She said: “It is very warm and you do feel a bit overwhelmed at times but patient care has not changed.
“We have to try to safeguard not only the staff but people outside coming in, so patients cannot get visitors and that has been a challenge.
“Our patients are never alone, there is always a nurse with them.
“We do video messages to send to relatives and they can send messages for patients.
"But we treat patients as if they are our own family.
"They get the same care and the same compassion.”
The most moving moment Annmarie experienced since the outbreak began was when their first Covid patient was able to leave ICU.
But, sadly, not all patients make it to the other side. She added: “We do what we can to the best of our ability.
“To a certain extent, Covid is just another factor in critical care but the numbers of those dying has increased.
“But we have a good team and are very supportive of each other. We are a very close-knit group and we can debrief for certain cases.”
It comes after the Government announced people ignoring lockdown rules in England will see fines increased to £100 from Wednesday.
Fines will double for each repeat offence, up to a maximum of £3,200.
