We’ve been on the Covid frontline: SA clinicians tell of Melbourne experiences dealing with entire families fighting for their lives

These frontline SA medical staff experienced life in a Covid ward in Melbourne, and tell of the devastation at watching unvaccinated patients die an avoidable death.

South Australia’s frontline clinical staff have witnessed the deeply personal impact of Covid on unvaccinated families.

Five SA Health staff left Adelaide on November 11 and spent 12 days in Victoria providing relief to staff at the Northern Hospital Epping and learning more about dealing with the disease.

Central Adelaide Local Health Network medical services executive director Professor Gerry O’Callaghan puts a human face on an epidemic by recounting how he saw it affect families.

“We talk a lot about Covid as a disease and an epidemic but it’s actually something that happens to families and communities,” he said.

“When there are groups of people who are not vaccinated and then exposed to Covid, multiple generations in the same family become ill, the frail and the elderly die, and the loss and devastation for that family is extraordinary.”

Royal Adelaide Hospital staff including nurses Ryan Sachs, Laura Evans, Mandy Kocher and CALHN executive director of medical services Professor Gerry O’Callaghan spent 12 days in Victoria providing relief to staff at the Northern Hospital Epping. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

“We saw grandmothers and grandchildren in the same ICU, elderly couples in the hospital at the same time as their children where the children survived but their elderly parents didn’t,” Prof O’Callaghan added.

“The impact for these families and communities is devastating and particularly when it was avoidable had they been vaccinated.”

He said the “vast majority” of patients who became ill were not vaccinated and almost all of the patients in ICU were unvaccinated.

“More than 80 per cent of the community in the area we were working is vaccinated but it was unvaccinated people in the ICU,” he said.

“Many individuals in the ICU didn’t speak English as a first language and were from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds.

“The culture in the hospital was very positive, despite the duration of the pandemic and the system being under pressure, particularly in relation to nursing.

“The clinicians were helpful and co-operative and it was very reassuring for me to see the degree of resilience that’s possible with effective leadership and a strong team culture.”

The team has had multiple opportunities to share their insights with colleagues in Adelaide.

Royal Adelaide Hospital ICU nurse Mandy Kocher said the Northern staff “had been on an 18-month journey and we were able to get their insights on what has worked and what hasn’t and how they’ve adapted”.

RAH emergency department nurse Laura Evans said: “There was a great relationship between the emergency department and the other wards and the rest of the hospital, which helped the systems the ED had in place and meant better outcomes for patients.”

RAH ICU nurse Ryan Sachs noted: “The systems and processes were very good and the collaboration and teamwork translated to a high level of care of the families as well as the patients.”