BENGALURU: As the number of Covid patients requiring intensive care increases in the city, the government is ramping up ICU (Intensive Care Unit)facilities. Both Epidemic Diseases Hospital and Sir CV Raman General Hospital, which are already dedicated to Covid health centres (DCHC), are set to become dedicated Covid Hospitals (DCH) with the construction of ICUs.
“DCHCs are supposed to admit patients with oxygen saturation levels of 90-95%, but we are getting patients with 80-60% levels. We are ramping up the infrastructure to include 20 ICU beds apart from our existing 130 general ward beds. It will be ready by next week,” said Dr H D R Radhakrishna, medical superintendent, CV Raman General Hospital.
Twenty ventilators are being procured for the ICU in this hospital. Additional staff will be recruited either directly by the hospital or by the health department. Six to seven nurses and three doctors trained in intensive care or emergency medicine will be required.
The construction of ICUs has just begun at Epidemic Diseases Hospital and could be ready by August-end. At present, 29 of 40 Covid beds are occupied in the hospital’s general ward.“We are setting up 30 beds in the ICU and plan to have 26 to 30 ventilators. We will need at least 45 staff nurses apart from senior doctors,” said Dr Ansar Ahmed, medical superintendent of the hospital and district surgeon.