Dr. Deepankar Chaudhary, Doctor at Safdarjung Hospital
Deepankar Chaudhary, who works at the Safdarjung Hospital where COVID-19 patients and suspects are being treated, said his workload has increased. A lot of private hospitals from other cities and towns are also referring their patients to the hospital.
“A few days ago, I treated two patients who were referred from Moradabad. Uttar Pradesh has good hospitals, still the patients are being referred here,” he said.
To reduce the workload and help them work more efficiently, he felt that the doctors should be provided better Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). “PPE should be of good quality. For instance, a proper PPE is one single piece and we do not have to connect the cap separately. This will give better protection,” the 29-year-old doctor said.
Moreover, he pointed out that the shoe covers used by doctors in China and the U.K are knee-high, but the one he uses comes up only till the ankle. “I am 5 feet 11 inches tall. So my ankle is exposed when I move. There is a risk of infection when I touch my shoe or shoelace,” he said, observing that the PPE at the ITBP quarantine facility in Chhawla, where he worked from February 27 till March 15, was better.
The challenges don’t end here. “Some people hide their travel history, which increases the risk of spreading infection. People have to be more careful. I see many young people on the streets who are not serious about the disease.”
Outlining his work, Dr. Chaudhary said patients with respiratory difficulties go through a primary screening, before prospective COVID-19 cases are referred to an Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI) unit on the sixth floor of the new emergency block called ‘Ward A’. “We keep them in isolation for two days and send a sample for testing. If it turns out to be negative, we shift them to another ward and keep them in isolation until they test negative for a second time,” he said.
Those patients who test positive are transferred to an isolated ward. As the number of both patients and doctors in the hospital is increasing, he demands more rooms for doctors. “Many of them do not want to go home and like to stay back at the hospital,” said the doctor, who is cautious enough not to let anyone sit in his car for the fear of infection.