Covid war room: Helping people in distress

Constantly ringing helplines, a team of more than 35 people, trying to calm down panic callers, providing advise and guidance, tense atmosphere. This is the Covid War Room, established by the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), functioning from the new deputy commissioner’s office building in Siddhartha Nagar.

Undeterred by the allegations by a section of the people about the irregularities, similar to the one at the War Room of Bengaluru, around 36 people, including medical staff and volunteers work 24x7, answering calls of anxious people in need of beds and other requirements. Besides, they provide detailed reports, giving a clear picture of Covid management in the district.

On an average, 350 calls are received every day. The War Room has attended approximately 3,000 plus calls till Friday. The patients are counselled, their health condition diagnosed and advised on home isolation or admission to Covid Care Centre, government or private hospital.

Earlier, most of the calls were seeking help to get ICU or ventilator beds. Now, the clamour is for oxygenated beds. A few, make panic calls, when the situation becomes severe, according to an official.

With the daily Covid cases nearing 3,000-mark in Mysuru district, the situation at the War Room is totally different, compared to the first wave, last year. Once a call is received, the war room members take details of the patient and nature of help required. They take down the Specimen Referral Form (SRF) number and identify the problem. Later, beds are allocated based on the oxygen level of the patients, their age and comorbidities, said a volunteer.

Managing beds for Covid patients is a challenge not only in Mysuru, but across the state. With experts hinting at the cases peaking in June, the war room is gearing up for the situation.

Speaking to DH, R Raghu, Chairman of D Devaraj Urs Backward Classes Development Corporation, who is in-charge of Mysuru District War room said, “The war room is functioning efficiently, under the guidance of District In-charge Minister S T Somashekar and Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri. But, the biggest problem is tracing positive patients. We have sought the help of the police in this regard.”

To expedite the admission process, we crosscheck the discharge details, by calling the patients. Sometimes, it is not updated by the private hospitals. There are plans to launch a WhatsApp group and make video calls to understand the condition of the patients, to provide treatment on priority. The volunteers and members in the war room, who work round-the-clock, need encouragement, to provide moral support to the callers. The system will be updated gradually, he said.

“Though the situation is managed effectively, the situation is serious. Responsible behaviour by the public is key to contain the disease. We need to break the chain. The only way is to protect oneself and family members, by wearing masks, social distancing and following government guidelines, by staying at home. Do not neglect the symptoms and get tested immediately. Getting vaccination is very important,” said MCC Health Officer Dr D G Nagaraj.

The authorities have introduced a triage system, for better care. It is helpful to screen Covid suspects, ILI (Influenza like Illness) patients and SARI (Severe Acute Respiratory Illness) patients at KR Hospital, said Dr C P Nanjaraj, Dean and Director of MMC & RI.

The hospital has 1,050 beds, with state of the art laboratory and radiology services, casualty, blood bank and 24x7 emergency services.

DC Rohini Sindhuri makes frequent visits to the war room, to ensure that everything is under control. Minister Somashekar too visited recently, to encourage the war room members.

The district Covid-19 war room issues a daily report, an overall abstract on the positive cases, discharges, deaths, urban and rural quarantine reports, and vaccinations. Besides, it also provides details on the availability of Remdesivir in urban and rural areas along with oxygen availability.

The reports reflect the total beds allocated in government hospitals and private hospitals, details of occupancy and vacancy. It provides a bulletin with complete details of isolation, positives, active patients, deaths, samples tested and other details.

Besides taluk-wise Covid details, it also provides Covid vaccination report. The list also has the names of the hospitals with Remdesivir stock.