Bengaluru apartments turn clubhouses into medical rooms to support Covid-19 patients

The city’s large housing societies and apartments are turning their clubhouses into Emergency Medical Rooms (EMRs) with medical equipment to stabilise patients with mild to moderate breathing problems.

A month ago, the EMR at Ranka Heights set up in collaboration with the Manipal Hospitals has helped 1,000 patients.

“Fully functional EMRs are set up at apartment clubhouses providing care to those who have tested positive for Covid-19 and report mild to moderate breathlessness,” said a doctor. “The room is equipped with two or more beds depending on the space and is provided with an oxygen concentrator, nebulisers, CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machines and other infrastructure.”

The EMR has been linked to Manipal Network’s remote monitoring system to provide video consultation by experts in cases of mild symptoms.

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“The idea behind EMR is to put an additional supply of reasonably equipped medical beds into the system,” said Karthik Rajagopal, chief operating officer, Manipal Health Enterprises Private Ltd (MHEPL).

“Immediate medical attention is the need of the hour. We encourage more high rises and large-scale apartments to set up medical rooms to meet any type of emergencies,” Rajagopal added.

Residents also trained

The hospital has also trained some residents in managing the EMRs. The volunteers will assist the patients according to the doctor’s instructions via video chat.

“Depending on the symptoms, the doctors will advise if the patient requires oxygen, nebulisation or CPAP and if the patient is in a critical condition,” Rajagopal said.

If the patients are found critical, ambulances with ICU-like facilities will be rushed in at the earliest. Volunteers will also take care of the sanitisation protocol in the room.

Hospital officials said apartments will have to invest about Rs 3 to 4 lakh to set up EMRs and patients who visit will only be charged the usual video consultation fee. Apartments like Prestige Lakeside and Shriram Spandhana Apartments have already signed MoUs to set up EMRs on their premises.

Vikram Rai, general secretary, Bangalore Apartment Federation, said EMRs add an important facet to the Covid infrastructure, especially in attending in-house medical emergencies.

“Our governing council will evaluate the technicalities of the programme. If we are convinced, we would recommend our members to set up such rooms on their premises. We can also think about linking small apartments in a cluster type with medical rooms in large apartment complexes in the days to come,” he said.