VIJAYAWADA: CCTV cameras are not only being used to keep a close eye on developments in Covid hospitals but also for tracking patients and to know their condition. In order to have a close monitoring and fast redressal of the problems faced by Covid patients, the government has established CCTVs in 418 Covid Care Centres and hospitals. Daily 10,000 alerts from CCTVs are attended. The alerts include emergency, medication, staff availability, infrastructure, food and sanitation.
Of late, it has been found that family members, friends or relatives of Covid patients are going to the wards, where the treatment is being provided, and were even seen sitting on the bed of the patients or giving food to them. They seem to be unaware of the fact that they are in turn at the risk of contracting the infection and spreading the same to their near and dear ones, when they leave the hospital.
To avoid such a situation, the State government has resumed the online patient inquiry system, which it had introduced in the first wave of Covid last year. All the people have to do is to give a reliable mobile contact number (of a family member or a relative) to the hospital, besides the patient’s contact number during admission. A message of vital update (pulse, BP and other readings) will be sent to the registered number. Further, reports of various clinical investigations of the patient like CT Scan, X-ray, creatinine levels, from the time of joining and as and when they are updated, will be put online for the convenience of doctors treating the patient as well as the patient’s family members.
Those who want to see the patient can make a WhatsApp video call. Several are doing it, as mobile phones are allowed in the hospital wards. For those, who have no such facility, the condition of the patients will be shown at the help desk in the hospital on request through CCTV footage and they are also allowed to interact through intercom. Each and every ward in all 400 plus hospitals are monitored round-the-clock using CCTV cameras.
The feed is not only available with the hospital superintendent, help desk, nodal officer, but also with the Covid Command and Control centres both at district level and state-level. Now, as soon as a patient checks with Triage centre, the doctors there would raise an alert ‘Hospital Admission Needed’, in case the patient required hospitalisation. Hospital staff and nodal officers, who notice it, make necessary arrangements and call the patient on his mobile number stating that he was advised hospitalisation.
“CCTVs are also used for keeping track of different issues in Covid hospitals and electronic alerts are raised on seven different issues including emergency, medical care, monitoring of nurses attending the patient, doctors attending the patent l, infrastructure like availability of RO water or bottled water, sanitation etc. In the last 24 hours, we received 9,750 alerts and of them except for 76, all were attended and addressed,” explained Covid State Nodal Officer A Srikanth. He said technology is being used to keep the patient and his family members in contact virtually.