Warwick Hospital team reveal true toll of Covid on town’s frontline workers

The global pandemic has challenged the Rose City’s healthcare workers like nothing in their decades of experience. From the fever-highs to the truly testing, this is what they say made every sacrifice worth it.

From the first outbreaks to skyrocketing testing numbers and more recent vaccinations, Warwick’s healthcare workers have been on the front lines throughout the entire Covid crisis.

While the Rose City has survived the pandemic to-date with just one confirmed case of the virus, there has remained an undeniable impact on the daily lives of the town’s hospital workers.

Almost unanimously describing the past 18 months as “a challenge”, Warwick healthcare workers say keeping the community as safe as possible was worth every sacrifice.

Warwick nursing assistant Jeanette Sue Tin said she was thrown into the thick of Covid preparations from the beginning, from taking on extra PPE training as part of a response team to being one of the town’s first frontliners to get the jab.

“I was motivated to volunteer in the testing clinic because I wanted to do my part for the community. I was aware that we were dealing with a virus which had already killed millions of people worldwide,” she said.

“I have lived and worked in parts of the world where physical danger was the order of the day, but we can’t see this ‘enemy’, so we need a totally different awareness and approach.

“The past 18 months have been a challenge both mentally and physically, but it has made me realise the true value of life.”

Dr Blair Koppen was alongside Jeanette Sue Tim in lining up for the Covid vaccine at the Warwick Hospital. Picture: Tessa Flemming / Warwick Daily News

Despite the physical and emotional toll of working on the front lines while watching her friends and family in Southeast Asia and the US battle huge virus outbreaks, Ms Sue Tin said she was grateful and proud to be a part of Warwick’s pandemic response.

Enrolled nurse and allied health assistant Katharine Jones agreed the first weeks were some of the most demanding in her decade-long career, and said she felt driven to be a part of the fight against the virus.

“In the beginning I spent a lot of time within the hospital helping to put in place social distancing … I’ve assisted in local testing clinics, and trained staff to correctly put on and take off PPE,” she said.

“From early on I was fully aware of the severity of the possibility of this pandemic. I have friends in the US who have nursed through the height of (it), and speaking to them I knew how much this could affect our staff and teammates.”

While fortunate to have avoided an outbreak comparable to those overseas, when a spate of cases in Toowoomba and Brisbane triggered a huge spike in testing rates it took grit and teamwork from registered nurse Jo Rathmell and the Warwick unit to meet demand.

“The past 18 months have been challenging for our staff who have worked very hard to keep our community safe,” she said.

“The goalposts change as we learn more about this virus and our staff have done an exemplary job in adapting … while showing compassion, skill, and dignity to their patients.

“I am so very honoured to work with such an amazing team of people who have become my second family.”

Darling Downs Health Service's Covid drive-through testing clinic at Baillie Henderson Hospital was bumper to bumper last Wednesday as testing rates remain high. Picture: Kevin Farmer / Toowoomba Chronicle

Clinical facilitator and graduate support worker Louise Willett said one of the most trying but rewarding aspects was bringing a class of new nurses through their first year of practice while in the grips of a global pandemic.

“The past 18 months have been a challenge. Some of our staff attended the very first education session about the virus … it was an uncertain time and there was genuine concern in the community,” she said.

“I volunteered to assist with the (vaccination) super clinic as soon as the call went out. We didn’t know what to expect, but were pleasantly surprised by the response we had from the community.

“The whole situation has been tough on our staff, and sometimes, the carers need to be cared for also.”

With the ripple effects of yet another snap lockdown in Brisbane and border closures still being felt across much of southeast Queensland, all four healthcare workers urged the Warwick community to rally together in the months to come.

“Even though it has been a frightening period with a lot of cancelled plans and disappointments, it has been so encouraging to see how our community can come together,” Mrs Jones said.

“We all have things we have missed out on and things that make us fearful. We are allowed to grieve what we have lost even though we are grateful that, as a nation, we are relatively safe.”