Less Known COVID-19 Health Heroes
Not all heroes wear capes, but they do wear various job titles in the hospital.
Doctors, nurses, paramedics, and personal support workers are diagnosing, treating, and caring for millions of patients worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. These medical professionals are working tirelessly on the front line to provide the most efficient and effective care and mitigate the spread of this infectious disease. These medical professionals also act as a link between the patient and the rest of the health care team.
The rest of this health care team have roles that may not come to top-of-mind when thinking about the treatment of COVID-19 patients. However, these professions all play a role in the battle and they deserve a spotlight on them. Learn more about the heroes behind the scenes of the COVID-19 pandemic response:
🏆Occupation: Respiratory Therapist
Help People: Who have issues breathing
What They Do:
Examine patients with breathing issues and run diagnostic tests to assess oxygen or ventilation needs
Measure lung capacity and evaluate blood samples to test oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood
Provide oxygen therapy and airway management for patients who need it
During COVID-19:
Track COVID-19 patient oxygen levels to assess need for oxygen or ventilation
Manage COVID-19 patient breathing with oxygen therapy or ventilation
Intubate COVID-19 patients if necessary
🏆Occupation: Registered Dietitian
Help People: who need to maintain or improve their intake of nutrients
What They Do:
Interpret science of nutrition to provide advice for people to improve or maintain health through their diet
Health promotion and disease prevention education based on nutrition needs and health status
Develop nutrition and health communications, programs, and policies to improve population health
During COVID-19:
Deliver nutrition, hydration, and medication through feeding tubes for intubated patients or through the veins if necessary
Ensure standard feeding protocols for ICU patients to prevent malnutrition or overfeeding
Prevent malnutrition as patients recover from COVID-19
🏆Occupation: Pharmacist
Help People: Who need medication to prevent, manage, or treat medical conditions
What They Do:
Dispense medications in retail pharmacy or hospital settings
Counsel patients on the use of their medication, side effects, interactions, and recommended doses
Immunization and medication review services
During COVID-19:
Manage prescription orders and maintain medication supply for those requiring medications for any health conditions during this time
Recommend medications to treat fever in COVID-19 patients when applicable
Screening and information of COVID-19 to patients presenting symptoms
🏆Occupation: Radiologist
Help People: Who need medical imaging to better understand their sickness or condition
What They Do:
Interpret medical images such as X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds
Use nuclear medicine to screen for medical conditions using radioactive materials and medical imaging
Work with other patient information to help determine diagnosis and treatment plan for the condition or injury
During COVID-19:
Medical imaging to help diagnosis COVID-19
Medical imaging, such as CT chest scans, to reveal disease progression
🏆Occupation: Social Worker
Help People: Who require services to enhance their daily quality of life
What They Do:
Refer services and interventions to remove psycho-social barriers to health and wellness
Ensure socioeconomic needs are addressed for all patients
Advocate for and empower patients to maintain or improve health and wellness
During COVID-19:
Advocating for social services to adapt and remain available in supporting communities and vulnerable populations
Support communities affected by and/or fearful of the COVID-19 virus
Using tele-health and other technologies to continue to provide essential social services to people in-home
🏆Occupation: Physical Therapist
Help People: Who have a medical condition that limits their ability to move and perform normal daily activities.
What They Do:
Diagnose and manage movement dysfunction
Promote optimal fitness and well-being
Services to prevent loss of mobility
During COVID-19:
Provide airway clearance techniques for ventilated patients
Assist in positioning patients with respiratory issues due to COVID-19
Provide mobilization and rehabilitation interventions to COVID-19 survivors to enable functional return to home life
🏆Occupation: Speech Language Pathologist
Help People: With speech, language, and swallowing disorders or delays.
What They Do:
Improve speech, language, and voice delays or disorders
Completed swallowing and feeding assessments and develop a plan to ensure safety during eating and drinking
Helping people improve social communication, problem solving, and reasoning
During COVID-19:
Modified clinical swallowing assessments in hospital and long term care
Management of swallowing disorders after tubes or respirators used to manage COVID-19 symptoms
Using tele-health audio and video technology to continue to assess and treat speech and language needs
🏆Occupation: Patient Transport
Help People: Who need to be transferred to other hospital units
What They Do:
Porter patients and patient charts
Transport lab samples
Clean and disinfect patient use items
During COVID-19:
Assist in transport patients to/ from ICU or other recovery units during COVID-19
Follow enhanced droplet/ contact precaution during transport
Ensure patient items are cleaned and disinfected as necessary
🏆Occupation: Occupational Therapist
Help People: Who need assistance to better engage and participate in their daily activities
What They Do:
Treat injured, ill, or disabled patients through therapeutic use of everyday activities
Demonstrate exercise to help relieve pain for people living with chronic conditions
Recommend and instruct how to use special equipment such as a wheelchair or eating aid
During COVID-19:
Develop strategies to help people adapt their assistive devices and technologies to a new work or living environment during the pandemic
Use tele-health services to continue to demonstrate activities and exercises to help those living with chronic pain or conditions
Encourage individuals in isolation and/or recovering COVID-19 to participate in activities that promote rehabilitation and recovery
🏆Occupation: Medical Laboratory Technologist
Help People: Who need to confirm the diagnosis of a medical condition
What They Do:
Use test kits, microscopes, and computer analyzers to get medical test result to help with diagnosis
Test biological samples for detection of viruses, parasites, bacteria or fungal infections
Ensuring accuracy of lab test results and reporting these results
During COVID-19:
Test patients for COVID-19 virus
Screen testing health care professionals for COVID-19
Ensuring timely and accurate test results during a time of high volume of tests required to be processed
There are many roles in the COVID-19 response. Learning more about these roles allows us to understand what's happening behind the scenes in this fight and appreciate all the heroes making sacrifices every day to care for the those affected by this pandemic.
To all health care workers, worldwide, helping to treat and prevent further spread of COVID-19:
