Unsung heroes from south India work 24X7 in Jammu and Kashmir hospitals amid coronavirus pandemic

Away from their homes for the last month and a half, at least 37 biomedical engineers from south India are ensuring that critical-care equipment in government hospitals work properly in Jammu and Kashmir amid COVID-19 pandemic.

These unsung heroes shuttle between district hospitals in J&K to repair ventilators, defibrillators and various life-saving and diagnostic machines.

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They work in J&K under the Biomedical Equipment Management and Maintenance Programme of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The programme is designed by the National Health System Resource Centre for National Health Mission-J&K.

Ever since being called to J&K for special duty by Mediciti, a Hyderabad-based company, just a week before the coronavirus lockdown, Rajesh B, 28, from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, hasn’t visited his home. He is residing along with his colleagues at a private accommodation in Srinagar.

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“We stay on-call for 24 hours because we handle critical care equipment. Sometimes we work late in the night, depending on the level of urgency,” he said. “Our local colleagues help us feel better as they know the locations and people well.”

Recently, Rajesh received a call at 9 pm from militancy-hit Pulwama district in south Kashmir, where a baby warmer had broken down in a hospital. Without caring for their security, Rajesh and his team left for Pulwama in the night to repair the machine and by midnight they rectified the fault.

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It gives Rajesh and his team a lot of happiness to make a contribution during this pandemic. “People and the government here need us, so we decided to stay back despite health risks,” he added.

However, some of them like Ravi Shekhar, a biomedical engineer from Hyderabad, say they also feel scared whenever they get a call from hospitals where COVID-19 positive patients are admitted.

“Sometimes I feel scared to touch the emergency equipment due to COVID-19 risk. My family calls me every day and tells me to come home soon. But I tell them the importance of my work,” he said.

Shekhar (31) deals with X-ray machines which are critical in radio-diagnostics, especially during the pandemic. “I have so far repaired ten X-ray machines in different district hospitals. The treatment of patients was otherwise getting affected, so our role is important, which is why we are working despite the health risk,” he added.

Director Health Services Kashmir, Dr Samir Mattoo said these engineers play a vital role in the COVID-19 preparedness of the department. “They are doing the job despite the infection risk and shortage of equipment in hospitals,” he said.

Whenever there is an issue with any machine, the Health official calls the toll-free number and the engineers reach the same day to repair the faulty equipment.