Tiruchi GH holds drill to test pandemic readiness

here has been no flare-up in the number of COVID-19 infections in the city and the public should not panic over the variants that are being reported and, instead, take care to follow personal hygiene, wear masks and practise social distancing, said D. Nehru, Dean, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH), Tiruchi, on Tuesday.

There has been no flare-up in the number of COVID-19 infections in the city and the public should not panic over the variants that are being reported and, instead, take care to follow personal hygiene, wear masks and practise social distancing, said D. Nehru, Dean, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH), Tiruchi, on Tuesday.

“The MGMGH has over 321 doctors, 220 nurses and 72 paramedical staff. There are 110 beds available, in addition to 25 in the intensive care unit (ICU) to handle COVID-19 patients. There is a separate section for paediatric patients and pregnant women. We have an ample supply of medication,” Dr. Nehru told reporters after a mock drill at the hospital on Tuesday to test its preparedness to handle COVID-19 patients.

The hospital was equipped to conduct 3,500 RTPCR tests per day, with a sufficient quantity of kits in reserve. About 120 ventilators, 720 pulse oximeters, 330 oxygen concentrators and 578 oxygen cylinders are available. In addition to this, the hospital also had a medical oxygen pipeline system, and Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) tanks of 10kl and 20 kl capacity.

The drill held on Tuesday morning at the government hospital’s special COVID-19 ward featured the demonstration of a typical emergency situation during the pandemic, with doctors and nurses kitted out in blue personal protective equipment (PPE) uniforms attending to a volunteer posing as a patient.

At Government Medical College and Hospital in Pudukottai, the mock drill was inspected by Collector Kavitha Ramu.

According to an official statement, arrangements had been made to deal with pandemic-related emergencies in the hospital by constituting teams of 181 doctors, 285 nurses, 12 medical assistants and 40 persons trained in ventilator usage.

Collector K. Karpagam inspected the drill held at Perambalur Government Headquarters Hospital on Tuesday.