I'm committed to help you all out, but I'll not be able to do anything much!!??

The above statement reflects upon the current situation of all Healthcare Sector Professionals (HSPs) be it Drs, Hospital Owners, Administrators, Medical Devices, Home Healthcare Cos. & any other service providers across the nation!

• By Dr. Swadeep Srivastava

Despair, chaos, mayhem, overburden-- resulting in utter mismanagement, unusual shortage of any thing to do with Healthcare services, be it Oxygen Cylinders, COVID Medicines like Fabiflu, Remdesevir, Toclizumab, etc.-- unusual shortage is just a very small statement to make! If you manage to get the RT-PCR sample collected then you may have to wait for even a week to get the Reports (or even more), if you manage to get a bed in a hospital, your Patient may not get into the ICU when required, then he may not get the medicines in time as most of the Hospitals are running short of the COVID Medications...

Amongst all this-- Vaccination has taken a back seat! Most unfortunately the normal 'healthcare' which we also call Non-COVID Treatment has again for a toss!

A few TIPS which I feel can be helpful to all such unfortunate COVID Patients and their families (this is from my everyday learnings by dealing with min. 20-25 patients from my known groups-- every day-- since last 15 days):

1. Please watch for the Oxygen Saturation levels (measured by Oxymeter at Home)-- it should not go below 92, above 92 everything is good.
2. Temperature can remain high, even up to 10-12 days, don't panic just because your fever is not going down, watch for other symptoms too! Be in touch with one Dr at least -- all Providers like- Apollo, Max, Fortis, 1mg, HCAH, Portea, etc. are running a Dr supervised Home Care-- just do an online Registration, pay the Fees & avail this 'Dr Supervised Care' facility at the benefit of your home.
3. Most importantly, do not over-medicate (self-medication can be a compulsion, but avoid over self-medication)-- I clearly see this trend of Patients popping NSAIDs & Paracetamols (overdose) and immediately starting Anti-viral therapy even if their COVID is not confirmed and it can be just a simple Viral / Seasonal Fever!!
4. Don't horde the OXYGEN Cylinders when not required as it's truly much-much in shortage. If you can spare one, it will definitely save one life of that person who actually needed it (those who touched around 90 Oxygen Saturation levels or less). If you have used one & you have recovered and don't require Oxygen Support at Home, please do not sit quiet--- go out & either return it back to the Home Care agency or post it on your Social Media Handles so that anyone needy in your own circle can contact you & avail it's benefits to save a patient's life.
5. Don't be in a hurry to rush to a Hospital-- just because of PANIC. There are certain guidelines & a situation when your Oxygen level goes below 92, then only you need Hospitalization. I've been surprised that a few people have not even got confirmed COVID report (RT-PCR Test report only-- Antigen Test is not enough please) and have been hurry to reach a Hospital, get admitted!! A couple of such cases reached the door-step of Hospitals even when they were told that they should come only when their Oxygen Saturation level is below 92-- and they were turned back as the Govt. & the Hospitals have set this protocol that they would not admit anyone above 92 SPO2 level, unless there's some other exigency associated with it! Be aware of this fact...it will save a lot of troubles for you. BE AT HOME AS LONG AS ONE CAN BE... BE SAFE AS HOME IS THE ONLY PLACE TO 'BE SAFE', at this point of time.
6. Hospitals are the 'life savers' but currently they are in a bad shape, unfortunately. In my last 2 days conversation with top most Drs- Chairman/ Heads/ Owners of Hospitals, I've learnt that they are simply- HELPLESS-- and verbatim I quote a few of them-- 'Please tell your Patient whatever assistance they are getting in the ICU & in the Hospital-- is enough at this point of time, we cannot do anything else!!?? It's complete chaos, we are handling 200% more than we could have ever handled!!??' Period...

Unfortunately, the bigger the Hospital, more it's over-burdened and it's the most risky place to be in the current situation. As the Hospitals in India have never bothered to keep a full-fledged 'Patient Coordination/ Patient Satisfaction' Dedicated teams (comprising of mid-level Drs)-- who can understand Treating Drs language & communicate in Patients' language back--- and most importantly become a BRIDGE to fill the the huge- "Dr-Patient COMMUNICATION GAP.".. and thus in the current situation this is what is happening to the Patients gone into Critical Care/ ICU (particularly above 60 years patients with Co-Morbidity):

• Patient got in but for next 4 days the Family is in dark-- they don't have any clue/ any update of what's happening with their Patient inside!
• Then suddenly they get a short (very brief) call from the Critical Care Dr (under whom the patient got admitted) who speaks for 2 minutes -- to inform that 'your Patient is in bad shape, will inform you soon...', then again a silence for next 2 days!! Imagine the state of the Family, what mental trauma they would be going through!! I'm seeing the same state of at least a dozen of such Patient Families whose Patients are lying on ICU beds, almost unattended or at least-- there's a huge COMMUNICATION GAP... their treating Drs are not accessible for 4-5 days and are talking in very very 'measured tone'-- not informing the exact status & that's putting a huge 'trauma burden' to the already traumatized Families. Worst is coming in, that after a week -- the dread-fullest of the BOMB drops in--- "Sorry your patient is no more, we tried our best but couldn't save him"!!! Or something like- He got infected while putting in a canola & then the whole body got infected & finally he underwent multi-organ failure/ or a Cardiac arrest...etc.

Its fine, after all DRs are not GODS & Hospitals don't have license to 'save everyone', they can just do their best.. they are also doing their best, No Doubt.

But God only Knows, who stops them from 'Communicating with Transparency' to their poor Patients!!? Why can't they dedicate a 'DR Coordinator' to deal with/ regularly update these extremely traumatized patients & families?? In this situation, there cannot be a better solution & the best relief for them-- knowing & getting updated on what their near & dear ones are passing through lying unconscious & fighting with life & death on ICU / Critical Care Beds. One of my Dr friend gave the reason--- that as the Govt. has cut on the Profits of the Hospitals by 'capping many procedures & consumables', hence it would be difficult for Hospitals to keep a separate 'Qualified Coordinator' for each Dept., just to fill the 'Communication Gap' with their Patient Families/ Care-Givers!! Strange & hard to justify when each such Patient in large Corporate Hospitals are ending up paying Rs. 5.0 lacs to 10.0 lacs & MORE, whether their Patient came out dead or alive.

One of my very close school friend who just lost her Father after going through all this trauma at one of the so called 'largest & the best Corporate Hospital' of Delhi NCR, finally ended this ordeal by this unfortunate statement-- "It is utterly INHUMAN..." and it's a pity that inspite of our Hospitals & Drs working full-time-- 24 hours-- 7 days a week, taking all RISKS for themselves, have to live with this 'CRITICISM' which they don't deserve--- this 2nd Wave of COVID 19 has pushed all the stakeholders in 'Healthcare in India' (including the CARELESS PUBLIC which lowers it's GUARD immediately after come out of the COVID Wave) -- to sit back & introspect and prepare in a 'BETTER WAY' for the next wave & more such incoming 'healthcare crisis' looking up in our eyes, in times to come! Whether we like it or not...