Not a single ventilator in Palwal, critical patients sent to Mewat

Ipsita Pati | TNN | Updated: Apr 9, 2020, 06:20 IST

15 posts of doctors and nurses are lying vacant in the hospital

GURUGRAM: The only civil hospital in Palwal does not have a single ventilator even though the district has reported 28 Covid-19 cases. Because of this, the doctors are being forced to refer critical patients to the civil hospital in Mewat, the nearest district which has just 215 isolation beds for a population of about 37 lakh, and 38 active cases.
It has been observed globally that around 5% of the Covid patients develop acute respiratory distress syndrome and need to be put on ventilators.
Early last month, the health department had informed the state government about this urgent requirement and raised a request for three ventilators but is yet to receive any response. “We have sent a request about the lack of ventilators and general physicians in the hospital to the state government, and we are hopeful to receive help soon. We had received confirmation that one general physician will join us but we are still waiting,” said Brahmdeep Sandhu, chief medical officer, Palwal. 15 posts of doctors and nurses are lying vacant in the hospital.
While the medical staff grapples with this inadequacy, a mass-scale operation is underway in the district to contain the spread of the disease ever since it was found that 87 locals had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation which has caused the sharpest jump in the number of cases across the country so far, and to which 24 of the district’s 28 cases are linked.
Three epicentres have been identified with the most number of cases or with residents linked to the Jamaat, and the entire population in these areas is being screened.
Twenty-five villages in the Hathin block, which has a 90% Muslim population and where most of the district’s Jamaat attendees have been traced back to, has been completely sealed. These include Mathepur, Hunchpuri, Mahlooka, Durenchi, Chhainsa, Lakhnaka, Uttawer, Kot, Rupraka, Huchpuri Kalan, and Khedli Brahman.
A buffer zone has been created around several other pockets in the area.
Apart from this, since April 2 when the first Jamaat-related cases emerged, areas around the homes of the patients and those who they might have come in contact with, have been sanitised.
Palwal Civil Hospital has 60 isolation beds for its population of over 12 lakh people but does not have the infrastructure to deal with critical patients. “We are not admitting any patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome as we do not have the required facility in the hospital. We refer patients to Nalhar Covid hospital. Testing has been our key priority in the district and also we are taking extreme steps to avoid community transmission,” said Dr Suresh, head of the isolation ward at the civil hospital.
The district currrently has nine quarantine centres with 750 beds where people showing symptoms are being admitted. A door-to-door survey is being carried out to trace and quarantine anyone who has a connection with the infection chain.
Though Palwal has an adequate number of PPE kits and masks, however, lack of ventilators and doctors worries villagers and health workers alike. At present, Palwal has 600 PPE kits, 1,000 N95 masks and more than 1 lakh triple-layer face masks.