Mock drill at paediatric units in Gautam Budh Nagar to check Covid preparedness

The mock drills were carried out at five Covid-19 paediatric ICU facilities at Noida Covid Hospital (NCH) in Sector 39 and at the community health centres (CHC) at Bisrakh, Bhangel, Dadri and Jewar

A mock drill was carried out at the paediatric intensive care units (PICU) of government health centres on Saturday to check the preparedness of the facilities in the district for the anticipated third wave of Covid-19 that is said to affect children more than adults .

Mock drill at paediatric units in Gautam Budh Nagar to check Covid preparedness

The mock drills were carried out at five Covid-19 paediatric ICU facilities at Noida Covid Hospital (NCH) in Sector 39 and at the community health centres (CHC) at Bisrakh, Bhangel, Dadri and Jewar.

“The drill was carried out keeping in mind the anticipated third wave of Covid-19 which may affect children,” said Dr Sunil Kumar Sharma, chief medical officer, Gautam Budh Nagar.

Dr Sachin Vaish, joint director of medical health services, Uttar Pradesh, inspected the drill at NCH and the community centre at Bhagel.

“In the last two mock drills, we have already checked the status of medical equipment, including oxygen supply and paediatric facilities, as well as training of medical staff. In today’s inspection, the focus was on fire safety in hospitals and power back up,” said Dr Vaish, who is the nodal officer deputed by the government to oversee the drills.

In the light of fire accidents reported recently at hospitals in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, Dr Vaish said fire preparedness is an essential component that needs inspection. “We checked the fire extinguishers at NCH, that were in working condition, and also inspected the sprinklers. Apart from this, we also carried out a mock drill to see if all the oxygen plants at the hospital can run on the generator lest there is a blackout,” he said.

Dr Yatendra Singh, medical superintendent of CHC Bhangel,said, “The nodal officer inspected all the arrangements for oxygen supply through concentrators in the paediatric ward. The high dependency unit (HDU) beds, especially the ones which have BiPap machines to provide oxygen, were also inspected. As paediatric patients always have their guardians or parents who stay over during their treatment, arrangements at the separate ward for attendants of patients were also checked.”

According to official data, the district has total 440 beds reserved for paediatric care--- 10 each at the four CHCs and 100 each at Noida Covid Hospital, Government Institute Medical Science,s Postgraduate Institute of Child Health (Child PGI) and Sharda Hospital.

Talking about medical staff, Dr Vaish admitted that Gautam Budh Nagar does not have sufficient paediatricians. “The district health department only has two paediatricians - one under the CMO and one under the chief medical superintendent of the district Hospital. However, we need at least 10 paediatricians. In a meeting with ACS health, we have requested that the state health department provide the district with the required number of medical experts,” said Dr Vaish.