new delhi: The functioning of hospitals might never be the same with the current situation of pandemic. Even after cases may slow down, or cease to exist, medical practice as we know it might change, according to medical experts.
A doctor, who didn't want to be named, said she performed cesarean on a Covid positive patient. "It takes close to one hour which we performed in PPE. It was so difficult just in that one hour. I am just wondering how doctors wear PPEs for hours," said the doctor.
Personal protective equipment or PPE has become a necessity for a doctor in both Covid and non covid ward. "Things can go wrong in any manner and at any time," said Dr. Sayan Nath, senior resident doctor at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
He said that functioning and procedures have to be now followed by strict guidelines. "Covid patients who are having surgeries or operations should have specific features which are not seen in non-covid areas, like air pressure inside the operation theatre that should be maintained," he said.
Dr. Nath said that implementation of the guidelines is very important. There are different guidelines on how to do certain procedures with Covid patient.
"It is also important to give training to other staff like sanitation workers from these guidelines. We had to use PPE and protective gear during a pandemic but no one was prepared for something as massive as this pandemic. The amount of time we need to spend in these suits — initially it was difficult for all of us," he added.
Air condition is also switched off inside the Operation Theatre even with a negative patient where doctors are performing in the heavy protective gears which are heavy. Meanwhile, they can't take out the suits even after an operation, to which Dr. Nath said is mostly to use the protective gear in the maximum capacity. "As there is shortage of PPE kit we think it is better to utilize PPE kit for a maximum time. The duty varies from 8 to 12 hours inside an ICU, but mostly it depends on the type of surgery. But this is a Covid situation and the situation is evolving every day, cases are also increasing," he said, adding that there are problems in the health system that need to upgraded.
"I told my parents I might get infected any time," he added. Dr. Nath also focused on the fact that different areas should be designated for covid and non-covid areas. "Negative patients should have a different area. Inside the OT there should be two different areas one for patient intervention before he or she is taken for operation," he added.