West Bengal: Free oximeter use in home isolation – Times of India

KOLKATA: With close to one-third of Covid-positive patients in Bengal in home isolation, the state health department is set to tag each such patient to a local doctor for better monitoring. The state on Friday rolled out a detailed protocol for home isolation of Covid patients to ensure that they get timely hospital care in case the need arises. Expecting to bring down the mortality rate, the health department has roped in IMA Bengal chapter for this mission. The civic administrators and local health officials will work in tandem as well.
On Friday, the state health department came out with a circular on how to provide care to Covid patients in home isolation by tagging each patient with a local doctor. Administrative heads and health officials of districts, civic body administrators and its medical officials will be coordinating to run this project.

The first phase of training of physicians on how to take care of these patients and how to spot early warning signs will start on Saturday. IMA will start training its member doctors and the Association of Physicians of India (API) will tutor its members by November 7. Health officials of all civic bodies, too, will get the training during the same period.
“Our local IMA leaders will prepare a list of general physicians who will be enrolled for the training. They will then be tagged along with patient/patients in his/her locality. Around 10,000 doctors of IMA in the state will be part of this mission,” said radiologist Santanu Sen, secretary IMA.
According to doctors, about 50% of Covid deaths are taking place within two days of hospital admission. Many of these patients could have been saved if they got timely medical intervention, they felt.
“We are noticing a casual attitude of patients who either go for test after days of the symptoms persisting or rushing to hospital only when the symptoms have got aggravated beyond repair. If doctor monitors patients in home isolation, such delays could be prevented,” said public health specialist Anirban Dalui, assistant finance secretary of IMA Bengal.
The health department will also give monitoring devices like pulse oximeter to patients in home isolation. The device needs to be returned on completion of the isolation period.
“Monitoring of oxygen saturation five times a day after a six-minute walk inside the house is very important for these patients. If the oxygen saturation drops below 95%, it is an alert that calls for medical attention. We see many patients coming to hospital only when they start feeling respiratory distress,” said internal medicine specialist Syamasish Bandyopadhyay, director (medical services) of Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals.