The teams of doctors counsel these men under strict social distancing rules. (Express photo/Jaipal Singh)
EVEN BEFORE the apex court of India directed states and district to counsel those in quarantine centres and shelter homes, the Panchkula health administration, scrambled several teams to do the needful.
“We started conducting the counselling of people who were quarantined and those at shelter homes as early as March end. These are extraordinary times and even people living with their families get anxious. We knew those, away from family and uncertain of what was to come would need it even more, so we began”, says Dr MP Sharma, head of psychiatric department at Civil Hospital, Panchkula.
As many as 10 teams of doctors have been made, where in while two are from the civil hospital, others are mostly volunteers who have been trained to counsel. “We have a smaller manpower in this field. We know we needed more so we took the help of other doctors and volunteers”, said CMO Dr Jasjeet Kaur.
The department has treated around 20 opioid addicts along with 10 core psychiatric patients stationed at these facilities as of yet. “Most of these are small wagers who take the help of opium or such items to keep themselves working. When they had reached the facilities, all of them had some opium or poppy husk with them. As their stock dwindled, the withdrawals started kicking in”, says Sharma.
The teams of doctors counsel these men under strict social distancing rules. “We make sure their masks are on. We ourselves wear PPEs or other protective gear. Whenever any activity takes place, we ensure all of them stand at least two meters apart from each other. I have even used tele- communications to counsel people and prescribe medications”, Sharma says.
But the team realises the kind of stress that befalls the staff that stay at these facilities to ensure discipline and counsels them as well. “We counsel the helpers at the centre including health teams, sanitation teams and police teams as well. They feel the heat of the situation too”, says Sharma.
Sharma has also been counselling the patients who test positive at the isolation ward of Civil Hospital Sector 6 as well.
While many a times he has used tele-communication means, mostly, he remains present at the ward in a PPE kit. “They face anxiety and fear of the unknown. Most of them do not understand why they have been kept at the ward as most of them are asymptomatic. They are worried about themselves, their families. Have questions like when will they be free, whether they would go home to a quarantine facility. Most of them have basic queries that I answer”, he says.
While the state quarantine facilities at Mauli and Nada Sahib have been housing as many as 124 persons who attended Tablighi Jamaat, the shelter homes house more than 400 migrant labours from various states.