CAMAGÜEY.- They still don't know anything about the world, nor do they know life with all its shades and colors; because their little piece of planet is white and green. For the people of that complex world, the sacrifices and the problems abroad do not matter, because losing hope, there, is prohibited.
The Intensive Care Room of the Eduardo Agramonte Piña Pediatric Hospital is the place that nobody wants to visit, a place of pain, but also of life. It reminds you that every second counts and there are people struggling a lot, for one thousandth more.
With forty years of foundation, this Room represents pride and reference in Camagüey's health:
Photo: Leandro Pérez Pérez/ Adelante“It constitutes an outstanding service of our institution and of the province- this is how Dr. Leonardo Ramírez Rodríguez, director of the institution, describes it. Serious and critical children are cared for there and the lives of these patients are decided daily, which is why it offers us the guarantee of quality medical care. It is an honor to have this Room, created in a complex context of dengue hemorrhagic fever in Cuba and in whose construction our Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz was present”.
Inaugurated in December 1982, it currently has 11 polyvalent beds and two isolation beds for septic cases, with a structure that facilitates intensive surveillance of infants.
Dr. Mei-Ling Fuster Marshall has worked there since she graduated from the Intensive Care Specialty. She does not have schedules or thoughts for the issues of daily life, because for her there is a greater motivation in that place:
“Due to the complexities of daily life and the situation that the country is experiencing, it is a huge challenge to come here every day and work until the hour that is necessary, to see results, mostly immediate. But watching these children evolve favorably is an indescribable feeling; hearing the gratitude of a mother, that is priceless. There is no salary that pays the value of that smile. That is why we do not give up and we support each other so much among those who work here, for the only reward of seeing that smile”.
Legs and soul tremble when entering the room, not only because of the low temperature; but by the faces, by the ages, because sometimes, the devices are bigger than their bodies. For this reason, while the experienced photographer made the children laugh, the Head of Nursing approached me and said:
“Here your heart has to turn to stone, and at the same time, this room makes you increasingly sensitive; it is very complex".
She is Lourdes Rodríguez Marrero and she moves with agility, as if she were at home; she maps the place by heart and locates each person and object. It is the advantage of working 27 years in the same place:
“It is a beautiful and difficult job. Even tears come sometimes, but always ensuring that everything is in order and that this child gets out of here as quickly as possible, is our goal and we put all the necessary effort into it”.
Nurse Leo didn't like children; however, in this room, in just a year and a half after graduating, he has learned to love them and to be everything they need.
“Seeing a child recover is the greatest happiness in the world and I feel very proud to contribute to saving lives in this place. The child that has impacted me the most was David, a patient with dengue hemorrhagic fever; when I saw him emerge victorious from all that, I believed in the strength of these little ones. The Room has represented a challenge and a great growth from the human and the professional”.
“Cleaning has to be essential”, explains Auxiliary Margarita Cardona Gutiérrez.
“I am not part of the medical staff, but it is impossible to work here without becoming sensitized, without getting involved in each story, without wanting to work better each time, so that these babies are cured. It is an honor for me to put my grain of sand in a place like this, where people's lives are decided."
Abel is one of the children's faces on the beds in the living room; he arrived with orbital cellulite and his mother, Anaila, can only show her appreciation for their good work: “I am very grateful to the doctors, nurses, and service personnel. They have given my child the best care, they have kept me informed at all times of his situation and have been alert at all times, very aware of his pain and his needs. The only thing I can do is to thank them for so much love and such excellent work.”
Nurse Yamisley Labrada de la Cruz knows the challenge of being part of an Intensive Care Room:
"At one point you can have a seriously ill patient and you just have to observe them, but sometimes you have to spray every hour, or every twenty minutes ; and sometimes everything is decided in a matter of seconds. That's why the staff here are so dedicated and so brave, because you can never give up, or trust yourself, it must be a constant and very careful task”.
A doctor warms up the stethoscope with her gown: "it gets very cold and I warm it up so that they don't jump when I put it on their chest." Meanwhile, a nurse makes sure that the two little feet are under the quilt and a mother watches confidently. She knows that her baby is in such good hands, in those hands that do not know fear or trembling due to the cold in the room. Because there are smiles that are waiting to appear, when the storm goes away and then, there is no more authentic way to say "thank you".
Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez