CUTTACK: Healthcare institutions are considered hotbeds of coronavirus transmission. But authorities of SCB Medical College and Hospital seem oblivious to the fact. A look at the casualty wing of the hospital is enough to send shivers down the spine of frontline workers who are working tirelessly to check the spread of the virus.
Despite the rise in cases during the second wave, nothing has changed at the casualty wing of the premier healthcare institution where patients can be seen lying close to each other waiting for doctors to attend to them. Considering the rush at the hospital, the wait can last for hours. Those who test positive are shifted to the designated Covid hospital and in most cases it takes almost a day.
A person, critically injured in a road mishap was taken to the casualty on Thursday evening. The hospital staff conducted rapid antigen test on him and he tested positive. But he was shifted to the Covid hospital on Friday at around 10 am. This amounts to gross violation of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) as per which a patient who tests positive is required to be isolated immediately and shifted to a dedicated facility for treatment of Covid-19.
What’s even more concerning is that while the Covid patients lie on the bed or on the floor of the casualty for hours, their attendants roam around the wing. As per reports, the casualty wing handles around 400-500 patients facility from 5 pm to 9 am. Of them around, 150-200 are admitted to various wards of the hospital.
Superintendent Prof Lucy Das said although there is no facility to isolate patients with Covid symptoms, efforts are on to shift them to the designated Covid hospital as soon as possible. In a bid to prevent overcrowding at the casualty, steps are being taken to segregate trauma and non-trauma patients. As per the new plan, while the casualty will only deal with trauma patients, the non-trauma patients will be treated at a shed constructed at the ground floor of the old medicine department building.