Get yourself admitted, pregnant women, kidney patients told

We have to take this precautionary step to prevent any untoward incident. DATUK DR AHMAD RAZIN AHMAD MAHIR Kelantan Health Department director

RANTAU PANJANG: The state Health Department is taking the initiative to stay on top of its game following trying times experienced during the 2014 floods.

Since the floods hit Kelantan last Saturday, the department has called on patients, in particular pregnant women who are due to deliver this month and kidney patients, to be hospitalised.

This is due to the fact that when the flooding took place in 2014, high-risk patients were unable to receive treatment in time, apart from floodwaters causing damage to some hospital equipment.

State Health director Datuk Dr Ahmad Razin Ahmad Mahir said the calls had resulted in 34 expectant mothers and 12 kidney patients to be hospitalised at several hospitals in the state.

“We have to take this precautionary step to prevent any untoward incident,” he said at the SK Gual Tinggi flood relief centre here yesterday.

Ahmad Razin said apart from that, the department had also stationed medical teams at flood relief centres to assist the evacuees.

“The teams were deployed to the centres where the number of victims is more than 1,000 people. In Rantau Panjang alone, we have set up three teams, one each in SK Rantau Panjang, SK Gelang Mas and SK Gual Tinggi here.”

He stated that to date, the department had not received any reports on flood-related diseases or of food poisoning at flood relief centres.

“However, our staff will monitor the situation. In the 2014 flood, there was a slight increase in typhoid and leptospirosis cases. This will be our main focus after this flood season. We will also ensure all wells are treated with chlorine.”