When COVID-19 forced hospitals and surgical centers to halt elective procedures the surgical technologists who do the prep work and assist the surgeons shifted from the operating room to everywhere else they were needed.
In more normal times, surgical techs spend much of the workday on their feet. They prep operating rooms and lay out the equipment to be used. They are also the ones responsible for ensuring everything is sterile and stays that way during a surgery.
They keep track of the instruments, counting them and making sure none become contaminated. When the procedure is over, they may help dress incisions and prepare the patient to be moved to the recovery room.
When operating rooms went dark except for emergencies, technologists showed just how essential they are, jumping in to help care for the influx of coronavirus patients, expanding sterile areas to all public areas and providing relief to other, overworked healthcare professionals.
To honor them during National Surgical Technologists Week which began Sunday, the Association of Surgical Technologists asked its members to tell of the essential work they’ve been doing during this pandemic.
Here are two stories:
- Surgical tech Colleen Lorenz said she and her fellow techs “participated in the Incident Command call center realigning staffing resources, helped screenings at hospital entrances and helped sew masks for the community.”
- Kelsea Renninger, a labor and delivery surgical technologist, says pandemic or not, mothers were giving birth and she was there. “I have worked during the hardest hit times of COVID-19, most times working overtime throughout the week, and I won’t change it for the world.”
Green Key Resources is proud of the work surgical technologists do. We join with Americans everywhere to thank them for always being there.
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
