Emergency patients: Covid screening added trauma
LUCKNOW Those falling ill or in medical emergency have to go through a harrowing time before they are attended to by doctors -all due to the fear of coronavirus infection.
Sample this: Attendants of seriously ill JP Verma, 60, were shocked when told that they had to stop for Covid-19 screening before they could take Verma to the trauma centre. Verma was brought from Ayodhya after he fell ill and was referred to KGMU.
Covid screening has come as a new hurdle between serious patients and doctors, as it is taking-time and risky for the patient, too. Almost every 10 minutes an ambulance stops at the ‘patient screening area.’ Attendants stand with referral papers in a queue under the 15-feet by 15-feet tent, the only shade provided for the attendants and patients. When the paper work, which takes about 25 minutes, is done the patient is brought for screening to decide whether he/she has symptoms for Covid-19 or not.
During screening, sampling is also done by a technician wearing PPE kit. This takes another 10 minutes. If they find Covid symptoms, the patient is sent to the triage area irrespective of the illness. If there are no symptoms, the patient is referred to the respective department related to the illness. “First we thought they will screen and then start treatment. But we realised the 45 minutes spent in screening was just to decide where we have to go -- coronavirus team or a department,”
said attendants of Tofa Ram, 50, who was brought from Hardoi.
“During the day the queue is so long that one has to wait under the sun for an hour or so before the turn comes,” said Raju, another attendant who was waiting in geriatric mental health department screening point at 1 pm. This is what goes on for each of the over 200-odd patients coming in serious condition, as normal OPD is closed at KGMU and only the ones in dire need of medical care are being attended to in hospitals across the state.
“The process added during the
coronavirus spread is to keep safe both patients and medical staff from cross infection but this does take time,” said Prof SN Sankhwar, chief medical superintendent of KGMU. The scene at private hospitals is worse. Whether surgical emergency or medical emergency all have to undergo the Covid test and until their report comes, the patient has to stay in an ‘isolation facility’ in the hospital. “The guidelines demand doctors in private sector to follow even stricter rules,” said Dr PK Gupta, former president IMA, Lucknow.