Medicos for a permanent solution to meet any pandemic

BHOPAL: While the government needs to be well prepared to prevent any possible Corona Third wave, it has to ensure that the medical facilities are available 24×7 all through the year to meet any exigency, say health care professionals.

Medicos say that the government should open separate hospitals with 1000 beds with regular oxygen supply in major cities for treatment of Covid-19 and other infectious diseases†as a permanent solution to the corona wave. . For this the government should use deserted buildings at least in major cities like Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur and others, they added.

27×7; 355 DAYS A YEAR: No last minute arrangement, ensure everything beforehand and for all time.
The authorities need to learn lessons from the second wave when things went out of hand and the situation worsened with each passing day, cautioned the medical experts. Nothing happens overnight and all facilities like beds, medicines, vaccines, oxygen supply need to be ensured beforehand.

During Covid-19 second wave, there were 6075 ICU and HDU beds and 15,274 oxygen-supported beds in Madhya Pradesh, however, people had to run from pillar to post †looking for beds and medicines. Many medical facilities, be it government or private, ran out of oxygen amid its crippling grim supply. In the absence of oxygen-support beds in hospitals, patients were made to wait in ambulances with oxygen support.

Government has many deserted buildings in various cities and they should be used for housing patients if there is any medical emergency. Even the government may adopt the PPP model for hospitals and the affluent class will pay and get medical treatment. These medical facilities should ensure treatment for all infectious diseases like COVID, H1N1, HIV etc.

Government should immediately open separate hospitals of 1000 beds for treatment of infectious disease in deserted buildings in at least major cities with proper supply of oxygen. There are many buildings with the state government which can be converted into hospitals for treatment of such infections. Even government can go for PPP model for hospitals developments, Dr Manisha Shrivastava, Medical Superintendent AIIMS

Even many hospitals which are with 100 beds, may be enhanced and upgraded up to 1000 beds with adding more facilities, said Shrivastava.

Increasing the number of beds and arranging facilities all of a sudden when cases surge and then cutting them down drastically with the decline in cases is no solution. When infection spreads in leaps and bounds it takes at least 15 days to restore the services and facilities even if everything is available but not at hand.

Dr Subroto Mandal, cardiologist, said, ‘It will take at least 15 days for the health department to arrange for beds, restore oxygen supply, ensure medicines availability, so the government should focus on these† essentials. At least, there must be an oxygen plant in every district to ensure regular supply to the hospitals. Nothing can be achieved overnight in handling any wave be it corona or any other disease. Simply re-arranging the facilities in the name of making arrangements for the possible third wave is a waste of time.

Can ensure all arrangements within week

Within a week, we can make arrangements of beds and other requirements at this government-run hospital in case Corona third wave hits the state. We have sufficient beds and it is up to the government to increase the bed capacity at the hospital. -Dr ID Chaurasia, neurologist, Hamidia Hospital.