As she retires from a remarkable career in Irish sport, Louise Galvin joined Off The Ball to discuss her exploits on not only various pitches, but in an ICU unit during COVID-19.
Working as a physiotherapist during the pandemic, the Kerry native spoke about working in Tullamore and greeting patients in a somewhat disoriented state.
The ICU experience
"We had a few cases in Tullamore where patients were transferred from hospitals in Dublin, or elsewhere in the midlands, where their ICUs were full.
"When these people wake up, they don't know where they are, they are surrounded by people in hazmat suits, they are being told they are in Offaly and are like 'Why am I in Offaly?'
"But it was incredibly rewarding because people felt so helpless during that time, especially if they couldn't work. I was just delighted to be able to get in and help out.
"The nurses are phenomenal, they were just excellent; brilliant at keeping that communication with the next of kin because it was so difficult for them.
"It was a really rewarding experience. I thought 'I'm young and healthy, and not going home to someone immunosuppressed, why not help out in this environment?'"
Wheeled out
Galvin says that she saw a variety of after-effects of COVID-19, as she explained.
"A little bit of variety, but mainly that fatigue and shortness of breath after minimal exertion, which was a huge issue.
"Unfortunately, with the way our health service is often set up, there was a large emphasis on acute services. So when everyone is in ICU, everyone wants to know how many are in ICU, who will get out of ICU, will they survive?
"But what quality of life are they having? I often felt sorry for patients being wheeled out of hospital in a wheelchair, and they are being told to wave and they have masks on. They are told they are the survivors and they are the golden children."
HSE & rehabilitation
Listen back to our chat with Louise Galvin ⬇️https://t.co/ziCrxlr8NZ
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) September 29, 2020
It is rehabilitation that is crucial to get people back to their 'baseline', according to Galvin.
"Their quality of life is going to be completely different. Our rehab services have probably never been good enough and now they are under-resourced even further because they are not considered priority enough to stay running the COVID era.
"Plus a lot of our Allied Health staff - physios, [occupational therapists], speech and language therapists - are being re-deployed to swabbing.
"So for the average Joe watching on the news and looking at ICU numbers and seeing people survive, it's great. But we also need to reintegrate these people back into their homes, their normal lives and society and we're not doing that at the moment.
"It is difficult [to do that], I don't have any answers but I can just observe and report back that we need to pick up our rehabilitation.
"It is not just about getting people out alive and out of ICU. If they are used to being in full-time employment, and now they can't walk upstairs, there is a big mismatch between their baseline and where they are now."
