Goemkarponn desk
MARGAO: The Goa Medical College is in the eye of storm due to rising COVID19 mortalities, however a government doctor says the situation is worse in the South Goa district hospital, which is being overlooked.
“While everyone is talking about the situation at GMC, I’d like to point out that South Goa district hospital is even worse off. Though we have our own oxygen concentrator plant, when it began to leak we were suddenly given instructions in the middle of the night to decrease all the central line oxygen pressures for the patients. Several died as a direct consequence,” the doctor, who did not want to be named, charged.
He further said that oxygen isn’t the cure for Covid.
“It is the base on which we build our treatment, for these last few months we have been working without even a proper base to build our treatment on!! A hospital’s worth is not only measured by the amount of oxygen it can supply to its patients. We require drugs, ointments, liniments and a lot of equipment in order to treat patients. The fact that even supply of oxygen is such a problem should tell you about the supply of everything else,” he said.
He further says urinary catheters have to be lubricated before being passed, but we don’t have stock of lubricant.
“There isn’t any lubricant in the whole hospital. So we have to force the catheters through without any lubricant. it’s equivalent to torture but there is no other option. We are forced to do this, I don’t feel like I can call myself a doctor when I have to inflict so much pain on my patients… but I tell myself that I’m doing it to help them, that it’s for their own good. And I block out the screams,” he said.
He said at SGDH “we don’t have drugs to treat patients who have seizures. So if someone does have a seizure we just have to turn them on their side and hope for the best”.
““The best” rarely ever happens lately. One patient who was having a seizure became aggressive and lost control of his senses, and broke some of our non-rebreather masks, which are already in short supply. We tried our best to restrain him but without drugs to control the jerks this is a futile exercise,” he says.
“We were helpless as we watched the masks get destroyed. We are still helpless. We are helpless as patients die in front of us on a daily basis. We are helpless when their relatives come to verbally and physically abuse us. Please help us,” he stated.
Dr Horrible SITUATION…
• We require drugs, ointments, liniments and a lot of equipment in order to treat patients. The fact that even supply of oxygen is such a problem should tell you about the supply of everything else
• Urinary catheters have to be lubricated before being passed, but we don’t have stock of lubricant.
• “There isn’t any lubricant in the whole hospital. So we have to force the catheters through without any lubricant. it’s equivalent to torture but there is no other option. We are forced to do this, I don’t feel like I can call myself a doctor when I have to inflict so much pain on my patients… but I tell myself that I’m doing it to help them, that it’s for their own good. And I block out the screams,” the doctor said.
