RTE aired a documentary yesterday looking at the battle to save lives on St James\' Hospital frontline during Covid-19 fight

Filmed in one of Ireland’s busiest hospitals in the midst of lockdown, RTÉ Investigates: Inside Ireland\’s Covid Battle goes behind the scenes at St James\’s Hospital, Dublin

Brave Covid-19 patients, their worried families and the hardworking hospital staff who have saved lives share their experiences in a dramatic programme airing tonight.

Filmed in one of Ireland’s busiest hospitals in the midst of lockdown, RTÉ Investigates: Inside Ireland\’s Covid Battle goes behind the scenes at St James\’s Hospital, Dublin.

In the immediate aftermath of the peak of Covid-19 cases, RTÉ Investigates spent almost 30 days filming during May and June in St James’s Hospital.

The busy Dublin hospital has the biggest Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the country.

From lives hanging in the balance to lives lost, the series takes viewers behind the scenes of Ireland’s battle with Covid-19, as told through the eyes of patients, staff and families.

It tells the stories behind the numbers, announced each night from the Department of Health.

Tonight’s programme, which is part one of two, will take viewers inside the ICU in James’, where doctors and nurses talk about the battles they have faced to keep people alive.

Student nurses describe what it’s like to be catapulted from the lecture halls to the frontline of a worldwide pandemic.

Patients will also give insights into the highs and lows of the infection, as Clinical Nurse Manager at the ICU Joan Leamy tells of how quickly a patient’s condition can change.

She says: “Sometimes they can appear to be improving but they can disimprove very quickly and very rapidly.”

Families describe the anguish of not being able to visit their loved ones in hospital and sitting at home nervously waiting on the phone to ring with the daily updates.

Patients who survived Covid-19 and returned to their families will also share their stories of hope and triumph.

Tomorrow night’s programme looks at the important role of ongoing infection control and the major impact a single case can have on a hospital system.

For many patients, leaving the ICU is only the first step in their very long recovery journeys. Patients will spend days, weeks and, in some cases, months recovering from the virus.

To ensure they were not drawing on scarce resources, RTÉ Investigates delivered supplies of PPE to St James’s Hospital to cover the protective equipment used by the team during the 30 days filming.

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Article taken from https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/health/rte-air-documentary-looking-battle-18505062