HOW PUNJAB MANAGED TO SAVE SEVERAL PRECIOUS LIVES OF PEOPLE FROM CORONA PANDEMIC- AN INSIDE STORY
ELABORATE ARRANGEMENTS WERE MADE TO IMPART QUALITY HEALTH SERVICES TO PEOPLE BESIDES AWAKENING THEM
By SK.Vyas
Jalandhar, June 10, 2020: The state government led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had been making constant efforts not only to make the people aware against COVID 19 pandemic but also to impart quality health services to the people thereby saving them from scourge of Corona.
A well-conceived strategy along with a viable mechanism was evolved to counter the pandemic efficaciously to save the precious lives of people. The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequent health crisis caught all Governments and the medical fraternity unprepared but Punjab Government’s response to the challenge was quick yet strategic and well planned. With guidance from Advisor to the Government of Punjab on Health and Medical Education Professor KK Talwar, the Government prepared a strategy to appropriately equip and enable medical practitioners working in the periphery and in tertiary care centers on managing COVID-19 patients.
A key intervention was to convert and disseminate the plethora of information on the subject in a structured format for the audience to comprehend clearly. Sessions were planned with the medical specialists and anesthetists looking after mild to moderately sick COVID-19 patients, with faculty of Medical Colleges and other critical care experts looking after critical COVID-19 patients. Doctors and faculty from various Medical Colleges of Punjab were brought together on an e-platform, including specialists from AIIMS, PGI, USA, UK and Italy with significant experience on the matter. Administrators from the Department of Health and medical education were also made a part of this group to ensure that operational challenges were directly communicated to and resolved by the decision makers.
Pertinently, 19 sessions were held between the March 27th and June 4th with 1914 medical professionals involved in Covid care services. Research projects such as the use of plasma and steroids have been also been initiated on this platform where Professor Bishav Mohan, Professor of Cardiology at DMC Ludhiana volunteered to be the convener for these sessions. Additionally, matters such as the healthcare workers’ protection, management guidelines, risk stratification strategy and various sampling and isolation protocols were also discussed in these sessions held every Thursday at 12.00 pm and attended by 1500+ participants.
In order to enable case-based discussions and speedy resolution of concerns, experts from Medical Colleges were assigned for District hospitals ( level II) to provide immediate expert guidance. A second group, for facilities looking after critical patients, held weekly online meetings to discuss issues regarding management of patients in the ICUs and Prof GD Puri,Head, Department of Anaesthesia and I/C COVID Unit, PGI Chandigarh coordinated the sessions. These sessions helped to significantly improve the understanding of the disease and management of critical issues associated with it.
Under the leadership of Dr. KK Talwar and the Government, the Medical Colleges of Punjab have been working together as a unified cohesive force to tackle the pandemic. Teamwork and coordination at scale has proved to be effective in ensuring quality care to these patients and has saved the lives of many in Punjab.