Kiphire hospital ready for Covid-19 patients

Our Correspondent
Kohima, April 25 (EMN): The new district hospital building in Kiphire, which has been converted into a Covid-19 hospital, is now ready to treat patients.

Senior medical officer (SMO) Dr. Tiakala Walling stated, “The hospital is ready to take in any positive case patient,” adding that they have set up isolation wards and ICU.

Speaking to Eastern Mirror, she informed that the hospital has 19 isolation beds, two ICU beds and a ventilator.

She informed that after converting the new building into a Covid-19 hospital, the old building has been utilised for other medical services.

Talking about PPE, she mentioned that they have received whatever was supplied by the government. “The government has not supplied any N95 mask to any hospital so far and so none of the hospitals have received the real N95 mask,” she said.

When queried if they have enough PPE in the hospital, she replied “We have the PPE which we received from the government and I think that is enough as of now.”

Walling further informed that they will be conducting a mock-drill on April 27, adding that the final mock-drill along with the district administration and police personnel would be conducted on April 28.

“We have been doing mock drills on wearing and removing PPE on a continuous basis for all the hospital staffs, but the actual scenario of a patient being brought from outside and the process of admitting will be done on Tuesday along with the district administration and police,” she informed.

She also mentioned that the training for Endotracheal Intubation and use of the ventilator for all the district medical officers and CHOs have been completed.

Meanwhile, an orientation on the use of Endotracheal Intubation in a covid-19 patient was conducted on April 24 in the conference hall of the District Hospital Kiphire where Dr. Tiakala Walling had demonstrated on the procedure of carrying out endotracheal intubation in a covid-19 patient.

She explained that endotracheal intubation is a way of providing breathing support to Covid-19 patients, a procedure by which a tube is inserted through the mouth down the trachea. The purpose is to permit air to pass freely to and from the lungs in order to ventilate the lungs in which endotracheal tubes can be connected to ventilator machines which deliver oxygen to the lungs.

She explained that the tube is inserted through the help of a laryngoscope, an instrument that permits the doctor to see the upper portion of the trachea. During the procedure, the laryngoscope is used to hold the tongue aside while inserting the tube into the trachea.

Walling demonstrated that the head should be positioned in appropriate manner to allow proper visualisation, wherein, pressure is applied to the thyroid cartilage to help with visualisation.

Equipment required to carry out Endotracheal Intubation comprised of laryngoscope, blades- curved and straight, endotracheal tube, lubricant, 10 ml syringe to inflate (ET cuff), oxygen and manual bag valve mask, suction apparatus, stethoscope, sterile gloves and goggles, oropharyngeal airway, and CO detector, among others.