State braces for swine flu revival in winter

The state health department has set in motion a state-wide H1N1 influenza management plan to prepare for the second wave of the global pandemic that is expected in India in winter.

All government and private hospitals across Maharashtra have been asked to submit a second wave management plan and training workshops have been initiated for medical staff across the state.

“We are holding state-wide workshops for second-wave management in which health officials are being trained on ventilator use, collection of swabs, handling critical cases, and ICU management,” state director-general for health services Dr DS Dakhure said.
So far, about 10 districts have contributed to the action plan for pandemic preparedness, he said. Besides the health department, the education and engineering departments are also being involved in the management of H1N1.

This advisory has being taken seriously in Pune, which has been the worst-hit with the swine flu toll touching 98 on Monday. District collector Chandrakant Dalvi, who is the nodal officer for swine flu management in Pune, said an exhaustive action plan is being put in place and all necessary data are being collected. Information about the number of ICUs, hospital beds, ventilators, ambulances, and other such infrastructure is being compiled.

Dakhure said medical facilities will be increased across the state. Medical colleges where critical patients could be admitted have been identified. “As of now, government medical colleges at Nagpur and Aurangabad have been identified for putting up ICUs. We are also stressing public awareness about the severity of H1N1.”

Of the 35 districts in Maharashtra, Parbhani, Hingoli, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Gadchiroli and Chandrapur have been exempted from the plan.  Under the action plan, all hospitals and educational institutes have been asked to submit the number of students, contact numbers, total area, and number of departments.

“We will stress on swine flu management and coordination among the medical fraternity, private practitioners, administration, and educational institutions,” Dakhure said. “We have asked the educational institutes to submit their data because if the number of patients increases during the impending second wave, we will have to accommodate critical patients in a spacious building. Schools and colleges will serve the purpose. Keeping this in mind we want them to be in the loop.”

The plan is to focus on human resources capability and keep a team of health officials ready to tackle a sudden outbreak, he said. Training workshops have been initiated for medical staff across the state. While ventilator-training workshops have begun, plans are afoot to train doctors and paramedics on how to collect swabs from suspected patients.

Data on number of paediatrics, anaesthetists, intensivists and paramedical staff, and the distances between hospitals and cities to reduce the travel time for serious patients, are also being compiled.

Pune needs a minimum of  100 ventilators:
State deputy director of health Dr Ashok Mehta, who retired last week, told DNA that while 32 ventilators have been procured for Pune, another 70 have been requisitioned. “We have asked for 100 ventilators and may even need more.”  Pune has 49 ventilators. Of these, 28 are with government setups and 21 with private hospitals.