BENGALURU: As the number of patients dying of COVID-19 went up to 10 in Karnataka, the state government launched a Tele-ICU Patients’ Monitoring Task Force on Tuesday. A first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, it will ensure patients in ICUs recover completely and Karnataka achieves zero COVID mortality.
The task force, inaugurated by Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Tuesday, will be located in the health commissioner’s office in Bengaluru. “This state-of-the-art unit will consist of tech professionals and medical experts who will monitor COVID-19 patients in ICUs, help prepare hospitals for the potential onslaught by the virus and guide hospitals in the treatment of patients to achieve zero COVID mortality,” Sudhakar said.
Medical experts and postgraduate medical students will be put on duty and they will work in four shifts. The task force will function 24X7, seven days a week for the next three months. As those who have succumbed till now are mostly elders, the task force will ensure that precautions are taken and measures put in place as soon as a patient with comorbidities and old age is admitted to the ICU. It will also be closely monitored by Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey and health experts.
On how the task force will work, officials said, “It will receive real-time details of patients in ICUs of all hospitals across the state. The data is collated and uploaded to the e-Health Information and Communication System, where it will be monitored and analysed by task force experts. Their recommendations will be shared with regional nodal officers for appropriate action.”Task force experts will ensure that the treatment is in accordance with the guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation and the Indian Council for Medical Research.
How the task force works
The Task Force will receive real-time details of COVID patients in ICU, including the treatment details, of all hospitals across Karnataka.
This is collated and uploaded to the e-Health Information and Communication System, where the data will be monitored and analysed by experts from
the Task Force.
Their recommendations will be shared with regional nodal officers for appropriate action.
The Task Force will ensure that the ongoing treatment is in accordance with the guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation and the Indian Council for Medical Research.