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AIIMS Trauma Centre discharges its 1,000th Covid patient
New Delhi: Three months after it was converted into a dedicated coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hospital, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences’ Trauma Centre
New Delhi: Three months after it was converted into a dedicated coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hospital, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences’ Trauma Centre discharged its 1,000th Covid-19 patient on Tuesday.
The 35-year-old was admitted into the hospital on July 15. So far 1,003 patients have been discharged from the facility.
The trauma centre has been one of the busiest hospitals, also treating Covid-19 patients with other conditions like heart disease, stroke, brain and other tumours, and caesarean section deliveries in Covid patients.
Thirty-five surgeries have been performed on Covid patients at the hospital, and there have been 14 deliveries though caesarean section, two pacemakers inserted for heart block, and 210 dialysis procedures done since April. Sixty-five positive children below the age of 12 years have been treated at the hospital. The hospital has also been treating sexual assault victims Covid-19 as well as accused persons.
“Once it was decided to make it a dedicated Covid facility, it took us barely two weeks to make the appropriate changes to house virus patients. Our critical trauma patients were moved to the main AIIMS section along with the entire emergency department in early April,” said Dr Rajesh Malhotra, head, AIIMS Trauma Centre. “We have taken care of newborns from caesarean sections and several children, and in many cases their parents were negative,” he added.
The hospital has 265 beds, of which 237 can provide oxygen support. There are 50 dedicated intensive care unit (ICU) beds and six high-dependency unit beds. Close to 700 health care workers are on duty over three shifts.
Preparations to convert the trauma centre into a dedicated Covid-19 facility started on March 20, with the focus first on shifting trauma patients undergoing treatment at the hospital to the main hospital campus. The structural changes include putting up barriers to divide Covid and non-Covid areas to ease the movement of patients within hospital as well as for the safety of staff not involved in Covid care. Wards, especially private wards, that were without oxygen supply were equipped oxygen support beds and additional equipment needed for Covid-19 management.
The staff was provided training in infection prevention practices, keeping in view the updated international guidelines on Covid-19 care.
Separate personal protection gear donning and doffing areas were created at the academic areas in the basement of hospital with change rooms, wash rooms and lockers.
“All services had to be arranged independent of the main hospital; and all the challenges were met within about 2 weeks and we admitted first patient on April 3, 2020. By this time we had converted the new emergency area on ground floor into 18 bedded ICU. Moreover, the wards on first, fifth, sixth and seventh floor in old wing were prepared for instant conversion to ICU in case of need. We designated an operation theatre on the first floor for emergency surgeries,” said Dr Malhotra.
“We have all arrangements under one roof, including MRI, CT scan and X rays that makes our hospital suitable to treat even non-Covid conditions in Covid-19 positives, which won’t happen in many places,” he added.
