RECEIVING SURGERY WITH COVID-19

[Anchor Lead]

In Cheonan, Chungcheongnamdo Province, an elderly lady who seriously injured her finger was unable to get surgery after she tested positive to COVID-19. Doctors who heard about the predicament thought of a tactful plan and successfully treated the lady’s hand in time.

[Pkg]

Medical personnel wearing protective suits transfer a patient using a negative pressure carrier. In the OR, a surgical suture is immediately performed with only the patient’s hand placed out of the carrier. The patient is a 72 year old lady who injured her hand. While working at a restaurant on March 2, her left ring finger got caught in a noodle making machine. Her hand needed to be stitched up right away but just before the surgery, she tested positive for COVID-19. Due to the infection, she only received emergency care, and struggled to find a hospital for proper treatment and waited at home for over a day.

[Soundbite] (Patient with injured finger(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "I panicked. My finger had to be stitched up but the surgery couldn’t take place."

It was a precarious situation where she could have lost a finger in a worst case scenario. Her family requested help from a local public health center. News of her situation quickly reached a hospital in Cheonan. The staff at this hospital thought of ways to carry out surgery in an OR that has no negative pressure facility. They finally came up with the idea of using a negative pressure carrier used to transport infected patients. The patient only needs to put her hand out of the carrier for the surgery.

[Soundbite] Kim Jong-pil(Orthopedist specializing in reconstructive surgery) : "If you are determined to treat a patient, you can come up with ways no matter the circumstance."

The operation was successful and the elderly lady, who has now recovered from COVID-19 as well, is waiting for her hand to completely heal.

[Soundbite] (Patient with injured finger(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "There can be someone like me out there. I’m so grateful for the treatment. I tear up just thinking about it."

The medical staff’s quick thinking and determination to treat a patient in whatever circumstance there may be helped protect someone’s precious hand.