A private hospital in Pune held a couple of sessions to train local doctors in disaster medicine management relating predominantly to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), that has already been spread in 34 countries, besides China.

The programme was conducted by Dr Peter Patel, who controls the chapter of India-Nepal of the Faculty of Disaster Medicine, which is a collaborative venture between a few Indian hospitals and the Rotary Club of Birmingham. The rest of the knowledge was provided by Bharati Hospital at Bibwewadi, which organized the training, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Association of Private Doctors.

Patel said that there should be a dedicated team of healthcare experts to manage disaster medicine during such epidemics. Doctors, nurses and paramedical staff, should be included and trained. Extra cautiousness is required while handling coronavirus or swine flu. He highlighted that precaution is must in safeguarding that caregivers don’t get infected, therefore use of safety gears like masks, gloves and more is essential. Also, public awareness has to be made about this new coronavirus strain.

PMC assistant health chief Dr Sanjeev Wav are said that the initiative has equipped private doctors to broadcast the information, education and communication (IEC) programme, as most patients choose to go to private doctors for treatment. 90 doctors attended the sessions last week.

Mentioning the energetic participation by physicians, surgeons, paediatricians and other specialists for the two sessions, Dr Rajendra Jagtap, regional head of the Indian Faculty of Disaster Medicine, said that they are prepared in the protocols to handle cases of novel coronavirus which includes isolation, treatment and also disposal of biomedical waste, to prevent the spread.

The Union ministry of health and family welfare has issued new orders to the state health department for compulsory screening of people who have travelled not only to China, but also Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. The communication shared with PMC would require its alertness on airports in its jurisdiction, as well as assignment of extra manpower and logistic support to handle this situation.

PMC Health Chief Dr Ramchandra Hankare said that protocols for people coming from these countries would be same to ones who travelled to China. Any of them showing symptoms of the coronavirus will be quarantined for 14 days, whereas those without symptom will be quarantined for 28 days in their homes.

PMC hasalready received voluntary application from 10 private hospitals for setting up isolation wards and intensive care units to treat those suffering by COVID-19. The growing geographical presence of the virus has made it difficult to provide the number of beds available to take the identified cases. Columbia Asia, Sahyadri, Ruby Hall Clinic, Deenanath Mangeshkar, Jehangir, Bharati and Noble hospital had got clearance to get the facilities prepared.

Source: ET Healthworld