JOIN USDr Padmanabh Kamath, an interventional cardiologist and the brainchild behind cardiology helpline for free guidance across the country, said that on an average he gets 20 to 25 queries daily.
Over 1,500 queries from different parts of the country, including remote areas in Assam were being answered within a month, he said.
Even as he was responding to queries during the phone-in programme, Dr Kamath advised a slew of steps to a resident of Bidar seeking guidance on an ECG report via the helpline.
Kamath said the helpline is not a substitute to a doctor’s examination. The helpline is just to give guidance.
The helpline (No—9743287599) service is rendered free of cost. The helpline offered guidance on cardiac cases and had helped a doctor in Neyveli in Tamil Nadu save a life recently.
CAD initiative
Dr Kamath, who started CAD (Cardiology at doorsteps), a crusade against coronary artery disease initiative— a WhatsApp network of like-minded doctors across 15 districts including Bagalkot and Chitradurga, is engaged in screening poor patients for cardiac problems for free.
The group set up in February 2018 has installed 200 ECG machines in the PHCs of the interior villages with the help of donors. Eight ECG machines were installed at remote areas in Chitradurga on Friday, he said.
SHWAS scheme
Dr Kamath said SHWAS is a unique scheme emphasising on the distribution of nebuliser machines to primary schools.
Physical education teachers are taught how to recognise common medical emergencies like seizures, asthma, foreign body aspiration and also taught to handle conditions like fractures, sports injuries and burns.
Under SHWAS scheme, nebulisers have been handed over to 50 schools. Dr Kamath has launched an exclusive WhatsApp group for (PT) teachers across Karnataka.