North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) is facing an acute manpower crunch while trying to tackle Covid-19.
According to NEIGRIHMS Director, Dr Prithwis Bhattacharya, further expertise is required to take care of coronavirus-infected patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), as the staff are currently trained only in regular ICU duties.
Stating the trained personnel are needed to operate ventilators, Dr Bhattacharya informed that MBBS doctors can’t be put on duty to man these machines; there are 77 ventilators in the hospital but not enough dedicated staff to operate them.
“Even doctors from the dermatology and ophthalmology departments have been trained (to run the ICU) since last year in view of the pandemic,” the Director said.
In all there are 155 beds available for Covid-19 patients, including 100 with oxygen supply, 30 others in the Covid ward and 25 set aside in the ICU. Currently there are 57 Covid patients at the hospital, 18 of whom are receiving ventilator support.
The second wave of the coronavirus has, though, reduced the number of other patients coming to NEIGRIHMS for treatment.
“On an ordinary day, the institute draws around 3,000 patients daily but, due to the pandemic, there are only around 300 on an average now,” Dr Bhattacharya informed.