The isolation ward atop the TB hospital here received the first suspected H1N1 patient on Friday, but the relatives of the victim claimed that the medical personnel drafted to attend to the patients were hit by a scare on the flu.
When the 7-year old girl was quarantined at the isolation ward, the family members claimed that even nurses were unwilling to enter the ward to check the temperature of the patient. “The health staff was not willing to enter the isolation ward. To check the victim’s temperature, one of the nurses handed over the thermometer to me to go inside and check the temperature,” a relative of the girl told.
He demanded to know why the patient is not being admitted to Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim if the staff is hesitating to attend to the patients. “I was even told to take the syrup and tablets inside the ward for the victim,” he further claimed, adding “it’s only when I called the staff on three occasions that the patient was put on drips.”
When contacted, district Tuberculosis Officer, Dr K K Taneja said that there may have been some hesitation initially, but things returned to normal later in the day. ‘Such things happen anywhere initially, but everyone adjusted to the new situation later on,” he said, while denying the claims made by the patient relative.
It is learnt that the health staff were a worried lot while attending to suspected H1N1 patients. Sources said the nurse wanted to make it doubly sure that they have the adequate protective gear as specified in the protocol before attending to the patients.
Dr Taneja said things have returned to normal completely, adding that the swab of the patient was taken and sent for testing around noon.
The 7-year-old girl was referred to the isolation ward from Hospicio hospital as she has been suffering from fever ever she returned from the pilgrimage centre of Vailankani. “The patient got fever from Bangalore. We showed the child to the physician at Bangalore as well as in Margao,” the relative hailing from Navelim .
The isolation ward has been set up at the TB hospital atop the Monte Hill, Margao to admit patients infected by H1N1 flu. The 10-bedded isolation ward has provision for both males and females, with separate provision made to take care of sanitation.
Source: http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=27222&cid=2
