20 Jun 2021  |   05:20am IST

SGDH saved 4888 lives

SGDH saved 4888 lives

The South Goa District Hospital too managed it well with regard to following the COVID treatment protocols. As of June 11, the SGDH treated nearly 4888 COVID positive patients.

The hospital has reported nearly 540 deaths since the commissioning of this hospital. 

GSDH nodal officer Dr Rajesh Patel said that protocols for the treatment of COVID-19 positive patients are the same as the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), Bambolim and other hospitals. 

“There is no change in the way we treat the patients. We are following the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) protocol,” he said.

Reportedly district hospital witnessed the second number of COVID patients after the GMC. Heavy rush of patients was recorded in the hospital, wherein even COVID patients were seen sleeping on the floor to take treatment due to shortage of beds. However, doctors managed to follow the COVID treatment protocols and saved nearly 4888 lives. 

Says Dr Patel, “We succeeded in treating such a large number of positive patients only because the district hospital is fully equipped. We have the necessary infrastructure. Besides, we followed all the treatment protocols. Identifying the stages of infection and later on giving timely treatment was our main aim,” he stated.

Dr Patel said that they have an oxygen plant and the hospital is designed in such a way that the beds are connected with the oxygen supply facilities. “Every bed has an oxygen point, which has helped us to treat the COVID patients.”

All the services are monitored and handled by the team of expert doctors of GMC. With all this planning it was possible for us to look after a huge load of Covid positive cases. Now, we have enough beds and oxygen supply. The liquid medical oxygen plant helped us to tackle the issue pertaining to oxygen supply. We have 55 huge jumbo oxygen cylinders. Recently, anew oxygen generating plant was commissioned at the hospital,” he informed.  

As on June 11, the SGDH had handled 4888 cases and from September 19, 2020 to June 11, the District hospital had reported nearly 540 deaths. A quite large number of cases had come to the hospital, some of whom were brought dead. Besides, there were enough patients getting admitted and died within one or two hours,” he added.

“We have nearly 105 doctors, 22 AYUSH doctors, besides 25 post-MBBS doctors. Also 150 nurses are taking care of the patients dedicatedly. Still we need more manpower,” Dr Patel said.

he SGDH is now gearing up for the third wave of Coronavirus even as the second wave of COVID still persists.

“We expected that along with adults few children would be infected by COVID-19 infection. Hence, we need to be equipped with more infrastructure. There will be a need for appropriate training of nurses to handle the third wave. We need to reorient all the medical staff; the orientation for doctors towards pediatric care. Everything is ready with us to tackle these cases”, he added.

As per the guidelines of ICMR, a patient is classified as having a moderate case of COVID-19 if their respiratory rate is more than 24 breaths per minute and their SpO2 levels - level of oxygen saturation - are between 90 per cent an 93 per cent on room air. This means the patient is likely to be experiencing breathlessness and needs to be in hospital care. The targeted levels of oxygen saturation, or SpO2, should be between 92 per cent and 96 per cent.

Immuno-modulatory therapy treats diseases targeting the immune system and anti-inflammatory therapy reduces internal swelling. AIIMS and ICMR recommend giving 0.5 to 1 mg/kg of methylprednisolone, which is usually used to treat severe allergic reactions, divided over two doses - or an equivalent dose of dexamethasone, also used to treat severe allergic reactions - for five to 10 days as injections. Patients can be switched over to oral medication once they show improvement or are stable.


IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar