Our Frontline Worker of the Week is… Surveillance Officer, Sushelia Persaud
By Romario Blair, Jun 27, 2021 , Source - Kaieteur News Online - https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...er-sushelia-persaud/
“I would usually deal with the statistics aspects of COVID-19; we also have to do contact tracing…so if a person tests positive for COVID-19 we have to try as best as possible to identify everyone the individual may have been in contact with, as they too are at risk of having the virus.”
Family – her main source of support.
Kaieteur News – “I can remember the first time I was in the field; dealing with COVID-19…I was so scared knowing I would be coming so close to this virus, a virus which I had little knowledge of.” Those were the words of 24-year-old Sushelia Persaud, a frontline worker attached to the Suddie Public Hospital on the Essequibo Coast.
Surveillance Officer, Sushelia Persaud.
As a Surveillance Officer, Persaud comes into contact with suspected COVID-19 cases almost on a daily basis. Explaining her role since the onset of COVID-19, she said, “I would usually deal with the statistics aspects of COVID-19; we also have to do contact tracing…so if a person tests positive for COVID-19 we have to try as best as possible to identify everyone the individual may have been in contact with, as they too are at risk of having the virus.”
Persaud hails from Abrams Creek, a quiet community in the Upper Pomeroon. She resides with her parents, Jainarine and Roxanne Persaud, along with her brother. Reflecting on her formative years, she spoke of attending the Abrams Creek Primary School, and then a few years later, the Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary where she pursued studies in the Science stream.
In the year 2015, Persaud was enrolled at the Turkeyen campus of the University of Guyana to study Biology. Soon after graduating in 2019, she ventured out into the world of work.
HELPING OTHERS
According to Persaud, it had always been a dream of hers to one day become a doctor. This, she said, was owing to the fact that, “I always liked helping people; I saw the medical profession as an opportunity to help others, specifically as a doctor.”
Donning personal protective gear.
Although she had not yet been able to achieve the goal of becoming a doctor, Persaud insisted that her motivation to help others has not waned. “I didn’t’ turn out to be a doctor as I wanted. Instead, I got to be a surveillance officer, and I don’t regret having the opportunity, because I still get to help people, especially at a time when there are so many in need.”
Persaud said that she joined the profession during what she would describe, as one of the scariest times in Guyana’s health sector – the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. She, like others in the health care system, had little knowledge of the disease to work with. What was even scarier, she said, was the fact that she would be in the fields with suspected cases, when others were being told to maintain social distancing and stay indoors.
Persaud said that while her friends and colleagues were supportive, the immense support her family displayed, also granted her the courage to continue the valiant fight. “My parents were also scared for me being on the frontline. But despite having that fear, they still supported me and so I am thankful for them in my life. Though we’re far apart, I know they have been praying for me a lot,” said Persaud.
According to the surveillance officer, her first experience in the field was in fact, her first step towards extinguishing the fear she had for COVID-19. As she described her first experience, she said, “The first experience in the fields was early last year, during the start of the pandemic in Region Two. I can remember heading to Charity because we heard of someone coming into the Region with flu like symptoms, so we had to go do a screening exercise.”
She added, “We were doing mostly interviews to find out about their travel history. I was a bit nervous at the time, because I can recall being so close to this suspected case.”
FACING CHALLENGES
It has now been over a year since her first experience in the field with suspected COVID-19 cases. Persaud said that she is confident that her year of experience has prepared her for the challenges ahead.
Like most jobs, there are challenges in being a surveillance officer, and Persaud related that the most challenging aspect while on the frontline, is contact tracing. As she explained further, she said, “as a surveillance officer we try, as best as possible, to contain the spread of the virus. So, whenever someone is confirmed positive, we have to contact as many persons as possible who would’ve been in contact with that infected person. At one time, we had 20 confirmed cases at once. So sometimes, we may be at it early in the morning or late in the afternoon, or sometimes both.”
According to Persaud, the most affected areas in Region two has thus far been in the Pomeroon. This riverine area has multiple indigenous communities along its banks. Persaud explained, “if someone experienced symptoms they may not have reported it at any time, and so overtime they would’ve contacted other persons within their communities, so by the time one person realise they’re positive, a great portion of the community may also be infected.”
Our featured surveillance officer related that overtime, that trend changed in communities that were once hotspots. She said that today those communities are recording less confirmed cases, an achievement she believes materialised through increased fieldwork.
Currently, there is no indication as to when the pandemic will come to an end, but Persaud has her mind set on furthering her studies to be of greater service to the health sector. “I want to reach for a Master’s in either public health or something environmental. I’m still deciding. But one thing is for sure I want to learn more,” she related.