No ambulance in infectious disease hospital

Joy Roy Chaudhury - Kolkata

The Beliaghata ID Hospital in Kolkata, one of the leading infectious diseases hospital in the country and which needs to be on high alert because of SARS, has failed to live up to its expectations. The hospital has not been able to keep an ambulance on standby at the airport. The chief of the medical team at the airport confirmed that they had to arrange two ambulances and another medical unit since the ID Hospital had failed to do so.

The health department and the attending medical team of the West Bengal Health Service at Netaji Subhas International Airport have asked the hospital to arrange for a 10-bed isolation ward. But the hospital, with its present infrastructure, lacks quarantine facilities to restrict the spread of the virus. The isolation ward that was initially set up taking up two floors of the hospital is being brought down to a single ward.

A senior official of the hospital informed Express Healthcare Management that the West Bengal health service officials have instructed them to procure N45 masks for the ward attendants. These masks are costly and come for Rs 40 a piece. We are considering using normal masks in three layers instead.

The disinfectants recommended are also not available. Formaldehyde is to be used in place of the prescribed ECOTRU-1453 and ECOTRU-FMD. Disposable socks, shoes, rubber boots and other things are yet to be procured for the attendants.

Dr Jayshree Mitra, director of School of Tropical Medicine said the incubation term for the virus is 1-7 days. “We can arrange for anything necessary to combat the virus by then,” she said.