– Didn’t you feel like an intruder? – That’s the job we have, the dog runs behind the bone, the baker bakes bread, the lifeguard saves lives, the politician makes promises, and we reporters – we look. Especially where they don’t want us. It’s a reflex. We are talking to Paweł Reszka about his new book “The Critical State”.
- Reszka: already in March, the Ministry of Health shut the mouths of doctors. For saying what it is like, there was a risk of either disciplinary dismissal or a fine. In some countries in the West, journalists have been admitted to infectious diseases wards to show how it works. Quite the opposite with us
- What, in retrospect, was the worst of it all? Paweł Reszka: the loneliness of dying. Outgoing COVID sheep have no one with them. Just a figure dressed as a Martian – and they don’t even know if it’s female or male, young or old
- Paramedics told me at the beginning of the pandemic that they had never had so little work. People were simply afraid to call for help – very often the ambulance was called at the last minute when it was too late to rescue
- I’ve seen you die of it. And it is shocking. I would not like to get infected with it and infect anyone. It was a shock for the doctors themselves, who encountered something they did not know. With something that invalidated all their knowledge.
- Paweł Reszka: the book shows an environment that faced an extraordinary challenge and was left to fend for itself on the “take it for yourself” principle. They did it
Paweł Reszka – Polish journalist, author of, among others the best-selling series about doctors consisting of the book “Little Gods” and its continuation “Little Gods II. How do Poles die? ». On September 16, his latest book “The Critical State” – the first documentary in Poland about the work of doctors during the plague – has its premiere.
Zuzanna Opolska / Medonet: After writing «Little Gods II. How do Poles die? ” You told me you are fed up with hospitals, two years later we have a “comeback” – “critical condition”. Why go into the same river three times?
Paweł Reszka: Not quite the same, and I had a break anyway. I wrote “Czarni” – a reportage about Polish clergy. Besides, I was forced by the situation – we had never had anything like this before and it was worth telling. Not necessarily standing to the side, just breaking in.
Do you remember the moment you first heard about the Wuhan virus?
On my way to work in the morning, I listen to BBC podcasts and remember them talking about a city in central China and a new virus decimating its inhabitants. It went in with one ear, it went out with the other. A doctor I knew also listened to these podcasts. Sometimes we even exchanged some loose observations. And after “patient zero” was detected in France in January, the coronavirus has dominated the media. I felt that it was already… in a moment we would have a “Polish rash”.
And when it fell on Mieczysław Opałka, did you contact the medics you met while writing your dilogue?
I renewed contacts very quickly, and then I started figuring out how to get to infectious wards and homonymous hospitals, which was not easy at all, but it turned out to be feasible. A large part of the book was written in the evenings, when they wanted to “talk stress out” after or during their shifts and called me.
Wasn’t the telephone handset a discomfort for you as a reporter?
I had no choice – at the height of the pandemic, it was difficult to meet even on a park bench. On the other hand, there were also many face-to-face conversations.
All heroes are anonymous – didn’t you push?
Not. I preferred to have real anonymous stories rather than powdered stories under the name and surname. In fact, already in March, the Ministry of Health shut the mouths of doctors. It started with a letter to provincial consultants, but the baton went lower. Hospital directors silenced all those who reported in social media about irregularities or shortages of personal protective equipment. For saying what it was like, there was a risk of either disciplinary dismissal or a fine. I understand that people with dependent families and loans to pay off did not want to risk.
In some countries in the West, journalists have been admitted to infectious diseases wards to show how it works. In our case, on the contrary – brutally speaking, I had to argue … with a recognized specialist doctor in front of the ward nurse. Like high school students smoking pipes, we hid in toilets. Laughter in the room. After all, I did not go to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) to cut the patient’s wallet. Only to tell how critically ill patients are treated.
- Half a year of the coronavirus epidemic in Poland. Errors, necessary actions, forecasts – the experts conclude
It was one entry?
Not one entrance, not one hospital, but more I can’t tell you.
Then you had a section. Did we really deal with the pandemic better than the richest countries, as the prime minister assured?
It was different – some infectious wards were created on the principle: “guys, this is the place”. Patients were evacuated, beds were added, and when the newly created ICUs lacked plugs, extension cords were taken. Generally, all of Poland was plucked of respirators, which were even taken from the State Fire Service. I remember that in one of the identical hospitals they were just propping up a wall. And you knew that a non-continuous transport respirator in front of you 70 km away could save someone’s life. I do not know if it could have been done better, but if I were the government, I would not boast that much …
Surely you have been asked about this and they will ask: did you not fear for your own life when you entered contagious?
I wanted so much that no, but there was no heroism in it. More adrenaline. If you want to make good material, your main interest is the goal. Consequences come second.
What about all logistics? Did you tell your family: from tomorrow I live in a hotel?
The risk was not high – I was only an observer, I did not provide any help, I did not take swabs, I did not make injections, I do not spend several dozen hours a week in the hospital. Even when my shoe cover broke, I was more afraid of exposure than infection. So I pretended everything was fine and I guess it was …
No pen, no notebook, no phone – was it harder?
Indeed, the technique of work was different – I could not contribute anything, I could not carry anything. I tried to remember as much as possible through associations, and wrote everything down after my return.
How did you feel in the jumpsuit? They say the orange rustles like a sack of potatoes?
You can run amok. The problem is that you want to change as soon as possible, and wise people tell you: take it easy, check if you are not oppressed. And after an hour you feel the goggles pressing against your glasses, the glasses digging into your skin, and there’s nothing you can do … You’re tightly closed. After a while, unnoticed inconvenience becomes torture.
- “I lost my health insurance in the midst of a pandemic”
How did you react after those returns?
I was taking notes, going to bed, and going back to work in the morning
In retrospect, what was the worst of it all: gaps in the system, helplessness of doctors, no prognosis of patients?
Dying loneliness. In the face of death, we want to be close to those we love. Talk, mend relationships, say goodbye. Outgoing COVID sheep have no one with them. Just a figure dressed as a Martian – and they don’t even know if it’s a woman or a man, whether it’s young or old, whether it’s hands are warm or cold. I’ll tell you that people begged me – you write books, you have connections, get me. Although through the glass, at least something …
You tried?
What can you do in such a situation? One can give hope, but probably a false one …
Some went away alone, others recovered in emptiness …
It was also shocking. While there is minimal service in ICUs and ICUs, there is practically no one in rooms with patients in better condition. The doctor will make a short round, the nurse will administer medications, the attendant will clean up – entry and exit. The sick are alone with the disease.
I was surprised that the families did not want anything close …
Yes, one of the nurses told me that some of them had sentimental value, others had material value, and some were just new. This only shows the power of the fear of the virus that we have seen on different levels. Paramedics told me at the beginning of the pandemic that they had never had so little work. People were simply afraid to call for help – very often the ambulance was called at the last minute when it was too late to be rescued.
Today there are more and more voices that the therapy turned out to be worse than the disease – the death rate from other diseases (including infectious diseases) is much higher than the death rate among people who qualify as death as a result of coronavirus infection. It is even said that a few years ago the WHO would not have considered the COVID-19 epidemic a pandemic – how do you approach it?
With great horror – I finally saw you die of it. And it is shocking. I would not like to get infected with it and infect anyone. It was a shock for the doctors themselves, who encountered something they did not know. With something that invalidated all their knowledge. Besides, in the absence of clear procedures, they had to improvise.
From a reporter’s point of view, it was extremely interesting to see them in such an extreme situation. They had promised to help dying patients, and now they had to stop. Put on the jumpsuit, shoe covers, goggles, and then save. They often told me that under normal circumstances they would have a chance, but not necessarily in restrictions.
- “One day I felt as if the whole city was suspecting tourists”
In some, missionary work won, others took sick leave – have you wondered what would you do?
You never know how you’ll act until that happens. I hope I would be decent. But what is “decency” if you don’t have masks and gloves? I have heard from many women: I have children up to four years old and no one can force me to be on duty, but I will not leave the band at this point. Some were looking for a “niche” – one of the chemotherapy doctors took on all the logistics.
How do you think the pandemic will affect the psyche of doctors? Earlier, you described the anesthesia that came from professional burnout …
I think they can be proud of themselves – in this whole mess they saved lives, sewed masks, and if it was necessary, they took a drill and screwdriver and built airlocks. They risked a terrible risk – doctors without authorization got into the ambulances with their patients, knowing that if something went wrong, the prosecutor would ask for them.
Anyway, I told my interlocutors this: you cannot be silent. If we have a second Lombardy, you will be scapegoats. Nobody will sprinkle their heads with ashes and say: the system was inefficient, they will only look among the applauded … Such a scenario has happened many times. On the other hand, many bad things have also surfaced: lack of solidarity, tendencies to run away …
We journalists as part of the euphemism: “truth” sometimes invade privacy – you entered the ICU, saw patients in one of the most intimate moments of life – did you feel like an intruder?
All the circumstances have changed and no one will identify anyone. Patients didn’t know, all staff didn’t know either. This is our job, the dog runs behind the bone, the baker bakes bread, the lifeguard saves lives, the politician makes promises, and we reporters look. Especially where they don’t want us. It’s a reflex.
There is a lot of drama in your book: an inefficient system, powerless doctors, the loneliness of the dying – I wonder to what extent this is the whole truth about COVID. I know positive patients who set up YouTube channels and said: «take it easy» …
There are different ways of looking at a pandemic – as you said, we can wonder if the treatment turned out to be worse than the disease. We can analyze the price of lockdown – an increase in unemployment, depression, and other traumas. Perhaps the “shutdown” saved us from a massive number of COVID-19 deaths, but took the chance from cancer patients. Ok – this is beautiful material for discussion, it’s just not what my book is about. She shows an environment that has faced an extraordinary challenge and has been left to fend for itself on a “get on with it” principle. They did it. Okay, you know that many people and institutions did everything so that we journalists did not end up there. So we made sure a few did crawl.
What is not in your book?
We don’t really know… the pandemic continues. It’s always the case that you have notes, heroes, your own thoughts and observations, but you also have some missed calls, some unseen places, and an impending deadline. Certainly, it was an extremely difficult challenge in terms of composition – to write a book that would not be a collection of reports, but a closed story. I end the “critical state” with a scene that, in the public opinion, is the last chord of the pandemic: the June sun, families with prams, girls in short dresses, and less than 500 meters away, the “last circle of hell” is dying. How has our world changed? Time will tell…
You know there will be several books about Covid: “Extraordinary” by Marcin Wyrwał and Małgorzata Żmudka, “Pandemic. Report from the front of »Paweł Kapusta,« Virologists »Mira Suchodolska …
I heard that my colleagues did not cover the pears in the ashes. It was such an interesting moment that the more written, the better. It is also a test for our environment, which is constantly rushing, and yet a few good journalists found a moment to stop.
Will you read
As soon as I cool down, it will be a pleasure. Each of us has a different sensitivity, own style, different point of view, he has reached different places, met other people.
Do you think Critical Status is your best book?
You know, I’m just getting faster …
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- Prof. Ryszarda Chazan: “I find it hard to believe how easily it was possible to stop the whole world with top-down decisions”
- How many healthcare workers in Poland have contracted the coronavirus?
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