COVID-19: AIIMS doctors begin e-ICU video consultation for 43 hospitals from 11 states

It also said that the primary motto behind the initiative was to reduce the mortality rate in the country in view of the increasing number of Coronavirus cases in the country.

New initiative by AIIMS! In an effort to guide the doctors treating severe cases of Covid-19, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has started a new initiative called e-ICU wherein the doctors from the New Delhi hospital will be consulted by the doctors from across the country via video conference.

The press release issued by the Union Health Ministry said that physicians who are treating the Covid-19 patients would not only be able to raise and solve their queries but also report their findings and experience to the expert team of doctors. It also said that the primary motto behind the initiative was to reduce the mortality rate in the country in view of the increasing number of Coronavirus cases in the country.

As part of the programme, a total of 43 hospitals from 11 states across the country have been able to collaborate with the AIIMS doctors in a total of four sessions. The maximum of total 13 hospitals from the state of Tamil Nadu benefited from the initiative so far followed by 10 hospitals from Mumbai, 5 hospitals from Assam and so on. Each of the sessions conducted under the e-ICU initiative lasted for around one and a half to two hours.

Among the major issues being discussed in these sessions is the use of the drugs which are currently being used to treat the Covid-19 patients including Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine etcetera. The efficacy and practicality of Plasma treatment also remained one of the main areas of discussion between the doctors. The use of proning, high flow oxygen, non invasive ventilation are some other issued that found mention in the discussions held so far, according to the Health Ministry release.

So far, only those hospitals which at least have 1000 or more than 1000 Covid-19 beds are being roped in for such sessions. However, the hospital will start such sessions with even smaller hospitals which have up to 500 beds reserved for Covid-19 at their premises. The minimum number of beds needed for a hospital to become eligible for conducting such sessions will include the isolation beds, oxygen beds along with ICU beds.