An image that became viral on social media in a few hours: two disposable gloves tied and filled with hot water, to simulate a human contact that remains impossible for Covid patients for now. And this image is tender because there are so many people who have lost their families precisely because of the virus. Women and men whose hearts stopped beating in the isolation of the hospitals where they were hospitalized. A contact, even if not human, that we are sure will give comfort. But where does this idea come from? From Brasil. And it was renamed the "Hand of God".
Hand of God, in Brazil the idea of some nurses
The photo was taken in a Brazilian hospital. And it was soon posted on social media. To explain its meaning is the nurse who conceived it, Lidiane Melo. The goal is to improve the control of the patient's parameters, but also to hope that in this way they can "feel" greater comfort. Because the isolation in which they are forced to live due to Covid is one of the dramatic and most terrible consequences of this pandemic. "I made this glove with hot water - said the Brazilian nurse - to improve my patient's perfusion and see the saturation better: I also hope that the patient has the feeling that someone is holding his hand".
The remedies adopted in hospitals to help patients
If Covid has stolen the last moments of life of patients, forced to die alone, there are many remedies and aids adopted in hospitals. A missed hug, a smile hidden by the mask, an encouragement that nurses and doctors experience every day. And then again the use of tablets, donated to many hospitals precisely to connect patients with families. The tent that instead, for RSA patients, has become the material contact with loved ones. So in addition to medical treatment to be administered to patients, hoping to defeat the disease, too solutions alternatives to care for the sick and give comfort.
There are many ideas that Italian doctors, but also from other countries, have come up with in this long year of pandemic. Therefore, not only the progress made by research for treatments and vaccines, but also the aid for psychological support for patients. A way of approaching this difficult moment to which we cannot get used to.
The idea of the "Hand of God" is therefore a little more sign. In the minds of all of us there is another "Hand of God". This is how the great Maradona was called. And who knows then that the idea of the Brazilian nurse renamed with this name, cannot be a tribute to the great champion.
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