BENGALURU: As part of Covid preparedness, mock drills were conducted in all government hospitals to across the state to ensure their readiness to deal with any eventuality related to the novel coronavirus, such as oxygen plants and oxygen generators, test, etc.
Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar ordered a mock drill at all government hospitals, as per the directions from Union health minister Mansukh Mandavya.
Mock drills were conducted at Victoria Hospital, Sir C V Raman General Hospital, K C General Hospital and in the district hospitals.
Dr Indira Kabade, Medical Superintendent of K C General Hospital said, “The mock drill conducted at the 453-bedded hospital is nothing more than reaffirming the facilities and making the best use of human resources. Covd tests, PSA plant, everything is in working condition. We have to follow the Covid protocols and stock medicines in the hospital. People need not panic about Covid. Only 20 per cent have taken booster doses and there is demand for Covishield vaccination.”
“There is supply of Corbevax and we are making alternative arrangements. We will communicate with the government”, she added.
All the necessary arrangements have been made at Victoria Hospital. There are Red, Orange and Green zones demarcated at the hospital to treat Covid patients.
At Sir C V Raman General Hospital, there are 91 ICU beds arranged for patients and two oxgygen plants are installed. A central monitoring system has been created to keep track of patients.
Mock drills were not conducted at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospitals as they said they did not receive any letter from the department.
Dr Kemparaj, Medical Superintendent at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospitals said, “We did not receive any written circular from the government. This hospital is continuing as designated Covid hospital. From the first wave till today, we have not stopped Covid treatment here. Every paramedical staff got trained exclusively for Covid patients. We kept 60 full-service beds on hand to treat the patients.Out of them, 10 are ICU beds. We have categorised the treatment zones as Red, Orange and Green to treat mild, moderate and severe patients. We are following all the directions, whether it is given by the BBMP, state government or health ministry. We have managed two waves very well. There are currently no Covid patients in the hospital. If the government insists on raising the number of beds, we will increase it to 150 beds. There are three oxygen plants, but two plants are not working now. There is one oxygen plant that is operating and it is sufficient”.
Dr Ramakrishna, Medical Superintendent of Victoria Hospital said, “We have kept one ward ready for mock drill with 50-bedded capacity, four ICU beds, eight SDO beds. We have the required oxgygen generators, oxygen plants, regular staff and drugs and medicines on hand. Apart from this, other requirements like masks, PPE kits, incubation sets are ready”.
As per the instructions given by the health minister, mock drills were conducted state-wide in the designated government hospitals. During this time, the staff demonstrated how to treat at the hospital, explained admission protocol, and demonstrated what to do in an emergency.