How much danger are our healthcare workers in?

Photo: Luis Melendez

More Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is vital in protecting healthcare workers working on the Corona Virus Frontline, according to a New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association spokesperson.

The New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association Assistant General Secretary Judith Kiejda called for the government to re-evaluate the management of Personal Protective Equipment.

“One of the things, surely would be to always make sure that we have enough PPE and we shouldn’t have to be dolling it out,” she said.

“We shouldn’t have to have nurses in high-risk areas making their own facial visors.”

Ms Kiejda said that Australia’s supplies of Personal Protective Equipment should remain in Australia, and not be sent overseas.

“We should never have let it go offshore, we need to keep those sorts of things here,” she said.

According to Ms Kiejda, there needed to be a plan already in place to protect healthcare workers in chaotic times.

“Government has to understand that these things will happen and they have to listen to the experts,” she said.

Ms Kiejda made clear the importance of protecting healthcare workers in every possible way.

“If you don’t protect healthcare workers, it’s the rest of society that suffers.”

Earlier this month, New South Wales Minister for Health, Brad Hazzard deemed those abusing healthcare workers as un-Australian.

“It’s not Australian, it’s not the way that Aussies behave,” he said.

Mr Hazzard said as a community we must “make it clear” that we need to protect healthcare workers in every way.

Mr Hazzard called on Australians to support healthcare workers during this time.

He said to those who are abusing healthcare workers that their behaviour is “unacceptable”.

“I want all of us as a community to make it clear to that small minority that your behaviour is completely unacceptable,” he said.