BENGALURU: In a first, Bommanahalli zone has started “emergency testing” by setting up a helpline number, which can be contacted by people at any hour. A dedicated testing team is sent to their home immediately and a patient is tested through the rapid antigen test, which gives results instantly. The initiative is to track cases fast and send patients to hospitals before it is too late, officials said.
The zone was initially holding testing camps in residential areas and then moved them to industry clusters. But then, there were cases of symptomatic people needing Covid test reports to get themselves admitted to hospitals. That was when the helpline, 8884666670, was started. It has till now received 9,800 calls.
A resident of Kanakapura was impressed with the helpline and the response time of Covid care workers. When he showed the symptoms, the family reached out to the helpline and a team came to their house and tested the patient at 11 pm.
A volunteer at the Bommanhalli zone war room said, “When we first started working in the zone, we realised that there were lot of apprehensions and questions from the people. We also wanted to open a channel of communication where anyone could reach out to us round the clock. That’s why the helpline was started.
We have got an overwhelming response and now we are conducting a campaign to spread awareness on the helpline. We have actively addressed 95% of the issues raised. We have agents who will attend to all types of calls, from sanitisation to shifting to testing.” The team also found that people had been concerned about shifting women patients in an ambulance after 8 pm.
To address the issue, an ambulance with a tracking link was commissioned and escorts too were arranged for single women being shifted at night. “Our women volunteers accompany such single women to make them feel safe,” the volunteer said.