This is not a normal Christmas; we need to be careful
Behind the Mask is an absolutely gripping COVID-19 documentary by New Zealand film-maker and doctor, Paul Trotman.
In April last year, Paul started interviewing health professionals who were at the front line of medical care in COVID hotspots all over the world.
We do not often hear how it was for doctors and nurses working in hospitals that were heaving with COVID patients, using rubbish bags when personal protective equipment ran out, and making harrowing decisions about who should get ventilated.
You will be transfixed by these stories; you will be gripped by the terrible reality and moved by people working at the edge of what is humanly possible, doing their best.
Moments from this film have stayed with me.
There was the image of the intensive care unit corridor literally crammed with boxes, because equipment was being used so fast, there was no point in putting it away.
The visceral sensation of fatigue, your eyeglasses steaming up, and sweating all day in PPE.
The poignancy of patients dying without their families and the intimate conversations that happened through face masks and visors.
The occasional successes, when after weeks of ventilation a patient is extubated, and they wake up. (And the first thing they see is someone in a “spacesuit”.)
The reality that the doctors and nurses were at risk of infection themselves. The horror of intubating a doctor colleague in their 20s. The knowledge that more than 3000 medical staff worldwide have died of COVID-19. The fear of infecting family, leading people to isolate when taking time off work. The huge emotional toll.
The rage against politicians and those claiming civil liberties was palpable. The fear of a second wave: being made to go through that again because people were demanding haircuts.
The only light relief was a GP from New Zealand doing telephone consultations in her socks. The film needed some lightness, but it was a reminder of how protected from the COVID reality we have been in New Zealand.
An elimination bubble is a very comfortable way to spend a pandemic and we should be truly grateful to the politicians and expert advisors who have managed this crisis so well. We have been fortunate to have them.
It is fitting this film came out on Vimeo on 1 December, just ahead of Auckland’s borders reopening for New Zealand travellers. We know Delta will spread around Aotearoa in a way we have not experienced. We know large pockets of unvaccinated people will be at risk.
If you do anything good this December, send this film to everyone you can. This is not a normal Christmas; we need to be careful.
Behind the Mask is a salutary reminder that we are in a pandemic. When case numbers rise, as they will, things can start to get ugly. The situation in New Zealand is not over because we are vaccinated, it is just beginning. When someone says they need a holiday or a haircut or a party this summer, please send them the link to this movie.
Finally, thank you to Paul, who had the vision to start creating this film early in the pandemic and the skill to do it well. Paul had a kidney transplant as a fourth-year medical student and is immunocompromised, so was not able to work as a doctor, but Behind the Mask is a huge contribution to our pandemic history.
Paul Trotman’s previous films are also marvellous. Donated to Science documented medical students’ experience of human dissection.
Lucy O'Hagan is a medical educator and GP working in the Wellington region
Both films are by PRN Films
