A week after dna reported about the absence of ambulance facilities in Asia's largest TB hospital in Sewri, the BMC treated Sewri TB Hospital as a special case and agreed to get two ambulance services exclusively for the hospital in a week's time.
The hospital had an ambulance which was used to transfer patients from TB Hospital to other hospitals for advanced care. But it was sent in scrap a month ago and the hospital was asked to rely on the state's 108 Emergency Ambulance services.
The hospital had great difficulty in transferring patients to other hospitals as most of the time, the 108 services refused to ferry the patients out of fear of infection spreading to other patients.
"108 ambulances are all air-conditioned vehicles and according to the infection control program, AC ambulances cannot be used to ferry TB patients, as it will put other patients at risk of contracting the disease. Though they did oblige in some cases, patient care was getting difficult for us," said a senior doctor from the hospital.
After several meetings, the BMC has decided to get exclusive ambulance services for the hospital. Dr Rajendra Nanavare, the TB hospital's medical superintendent said, "We are in the final stage of getting two ambulances exclusively for the hospital. It will be present 24x7 and will solve our problem of transferring TB patients to other hospitals when required. The ambulances are open and not air-conditioned. We will get them in a week's time."
The 1,000-bedded Sewri TB Hospital has, on an average, 800 patients admitted. Of these, daily, 6-7 patients need to be sent to other hospitals for reference.
The hospital was also struggling with getting an ICU department and the BMC is in the process of getting specifications cleared for the same. "The Airborne infection control team is presently reviewing the specifications required for ICU. Since it demands air conditioning, we have to keep in mind the possible infection that can spread in the ICU," said a source from the hospital.
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