Medisch Spectrum Twente

Van binnen uit (From the inside)

At the beginning of the first lockdown due to Covid in the Netherlands, I saw my agenda being swept empty within a few days. Of course, this wasn't a good thing but it did open up opportunities for other projects.

For example this project for the Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST). Online the MST posted a call for a photographer to document these strange times in their hospital. In the comment section, there were several people who suggested my work for this project. At first, I wasn't sure my work would be a match because I thought there was a demand for a snapshot/reportage/journalistic style of photography. Something I don't do but also something I'm not good at. Still, I was curious about it and sent an email asking for an explanation of the project. After sitting with Anne and Ton from the communication department and giving my view of the project supplemented with examples, my work and approach turned out to fit in well with the expectations of the project.

As a result, my two assistants and I spend six days documenting the MST from the reception up to the emergency room. I found it special to see how everyone was able to adapt to something 'unknown' so quickly and made sure that it really became a team effort.The photos show a pure, non-posed impression of how everyone at the MST is committed to the maximum for the well-being of the patients. As a homage my photos are combined with real stories and interviews into a beautiful book and exhibition to remind everyone what we are fighting for.

All 6000 copies are given away for free to the staff of the MST. I am grateful to have contributed to a project that gives a glimpse into the turbulent period in which the staff of the MST finds themselves.

Credits:

Photography & retouch: Jeroen Nieuwhuis

Assistants: Jesse Bosch & Ramon Olthof
Communication department MST: Aarthi Rasiawan, Anne Biemans, Rieneke van ’t Ende, Ton Vogels
Book design: .NLVK

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The project:

Portraits of J. Kuik, mortuary worker and autopsy assistant.

"Picking up the first deceased corona patient was something I will never forget. I had to enter the ward fully protected. I was even more vigilant than usual in that first week. After all, we didn't know exactly how and what. The most intense thing was the week in which we took care of twelve deceased and the following week again. I have been doing this work for forty years and have never contracted anything. But this was the first time I thought: I am a bit older and have asthma. Also for my family, this whole period was very exciting."

Story by M. van Kimmenaede, trainee nurse.

"I already heard stories about the coronavirus from colleagues and people from Limburg. That it was intense and that people were very sick. I only worked in the lung department for six months when the virus hit, so I thought it was scary. A lot was still unclear. Did I know what to do? In the end, it turned out not to be too bad: after the first day, it turned out that it looked a lot like the 'normal' work in the lung department but much more intensive. The cooperation with colleagues went really well, even though you often did not know each other."

Portrait of S. Oldenkotte, Intensive Care Nurse.

"It's normal to have many sick patients in the Intensive Care Unit, and at the same time there are patients who recover. During the corona period there were mainly sick people, who also stayed longer. It was a tough period that we had never experienced before. You're in protective clothing the entire day and did not know for how long. It was a very mixed feeling. You work very hard but on the other hand you are also afraid to become infected or that your family will become ill. The great thing was that we there really went for it as a team."

Story by S. van Stigt, trauma surgeon and Emergency Department team leader.

"We treat German patients who arrived by medical helicopter as standard COVID patients. We often receive little information from the control room in Germany. In order not to expose my colleagues to possible dangers, we all wore protective clothing. This went on top of the other clothes like an X-ray apron making it quite warm and intensive. This patient was a 17-year-old boy from Germany who fell from a cherry picker. He was seriously injured but we could still ask him questions. Fortunately, the CT scans showed no abnormalities. And from what he told us we determined he had no COVID."

Story by P. Esveldt, helideck manager, emergency response member, and Senior Service Desk

"This was the first corona flight from Brabant that arrived with us. It was special that I came into contact with corona from my emergency response role. Our level of protection was very high for the first patient. We even wore extra protective clothing when transporting the patient on top of our firefighter's clothing. We adjusted that later in the procedure: a mouth-nose mask was sufficient. We maintained this with every corona-suspected patient who came by helicopter. I think we can be proud that we, as one of the eleven trauma centers, were allowed to receive these corona-related flights."

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Behind the scenes

There were several challenges with this project. Of course, making sure my crew and I was safe when entering a covid ward. We wrapped all gear in cling film to make sure we wouldn't carry contamination on our equipment. So when we moved to another location we could easily unwrap and re-wrap everything. Also, I'm used to working with people whom I can direct, but of course, this wasn't the case in this project. These people are in the process of saving lives so they won't do what I want them to do. So knowing in advance what they will do helps in getting in the right place. We really had to downsize our equipment to shoot as flexible as possible but not downgrade in quality of images.