In the epidemic prevention and control interdiction battle
Pharyngeal swab specimen sampling
It can be said to be one of the closest positions to the virus
The sampler is in face-to-face contact with the person being sampled
The sample is collected in the open mouth of the person being sampled
Jane Shunjuan from the Public Health Service Department of Henglian Town Community Health Service Center is one of the staff members responsible for sampling pharyngeal swab specimens in Henglian Town. Since the fight against the epidemic, she and her colleagues have been fighting for more than ten hours a day, sometimes late at night to go out to deal with the epidemic, often until two or three in the morning to end the work. She has lost track of how long it has been since she has seen her children in kindergarten.
When she first started doing pharyngeal swab specimen collection, she and her colleagues would unconsciously back up when they saw the sampled people spewing secretions from their wide open mouths.
"When I first started doing the sampling task, I was also scared, as if I saw the virus flying in front of me," she said, "because when the swab enters the oropharynx, the person being sampled will feel uncomfortable and may want to sneeze or cough, and will become nervous. But if we are also afraid and backed up, this will undoubtedly put more psychological pressure on the sampled person."
After several sampling operations she and her colleagues have been very calm, "after so many times of sampling, we have practiced 'fast, accurate' kung fu, and will comfort the sampled person 'do not be nervous, relax some, soon done! '"
A full set of protective equipment - thick, airtight gowns, disposable surgical caps, N95 masks, goggles, shoe covers, protective masks, and medical surgical gloves - is required before doing pharyngeal swab specimen collection. Because of the shortage of protective equipment and the heavy sampling task, she and her colleagues try to eat and drink less and go to the toilet less. Each time the task is completed when taking off the protective equipment, the face is staggered across the marks, as if they were medals.
