DIMAPUR, MAY 13 (MExN): The Naga Rising has today posed several questions on the state of critical health infrastructure and preparedness in Nagaland.
In an open letter to the Chief Secretary, the Naga Rising said that the exercise to bring back stranded Nagas will be a major test of preparedness for the Nagaland government both in terms of putting in place all norms and safety measures in quarantine facilities and availability of critical healthcare infrastructure.
It acknowledged that much work has been done and rightly displayed in the public domain—assistance provided to stranded migrants, help extended to Nagaland citizens outside the State, to students, rural folks, farmers and other relief measures.
In the health sector, some progress is seen in the last one month—naming of COVID Hospitals (in the existing ones), adding beds, ICUs, ventilators or arranging other facilities like testing labs, ambulance etc, it noted.
“But are we really prepared for the coronavirus itself?” the Naga Rising questioned.
The Naga Rising posed a series of questions to the Nagaland Government.
It informed that as per government information, Dimapur has a 22 bed ICU set up but with only 13 ventilators. This fact itself is critical and woefully inadequate, while the nature of gas used or oxygen supply capacity is unknown.Given that Dimapur district is most vulnerable, the Naga Rising stated. It asked the government to provide a SWOT analysis for Dimapur focusing on critical care and infrastructure.
Further, the group asked the concerned department to provide the public with approximate data on Nagaland’s overall oxygen requirement in a worst-case scenario and mention the present state of preparedness and concrete action it will take to address any shortcoming, if any.
“It should also provide a roadmap on how the COVID designated hospitals in Nagaland can prepare their oxygen inventory and to ensure that they do not run out of this life saving component,” the Naga Rising added.
It further questioned on the oxygen technology used at present in Nagaland and on the selection, procurement, supply chain/distribution and safe utilization in providing a reliable oxygen supply, including access to maintenance services and spare parts, etc. Further it asked for details about the current stock position of oxygen in all districts, including number of cylinders and whether filled or empty.
The government was also asked to provide a status report on district-wise availability of basic equipments needed for oxygen delivery other than cylinders like pressure gauges, regulators, flow meters, nasal cannulae, tubing, oxygen analyser and portable pulse oximeters (to measure blood oxygen levels and guide dosages).
Meanwhile, the Naga Rising said that the data provided with regard to district-wise Oxygen/Nitrogen distribution in Nagaland “appears to be inaccurate.”
It said that across the State, the data reveals that nitrogen distribution is more (Nitrous B-Type), which is commonly used for anesthesia.
“Is nitrous oxide also used in COVID-19 treatment, or is Nitrous B-Type cylinders filled with oxygen and used?” the Naga Rising questioned.
It meanwhile stressed that oxygen is a very important part of the treatment of critical cases of COVID-19. Therefore, it is absolutely essential that wrong cylinders are not supplied or wrong data is not shown, it added, and asked the department to clarify.
The Naga Rising also questioned how many ICU doctors and anesthesia specialists are employed and if trained technicians to perform such crucial emergency health task are available or not. It sough district wise details for this query.
Another question posed was if the State Government is working on any plan to fast-track the available Covid-19 funds in installing a more reliable system for safe and continuous supply of oxygen?
The Naga Rising urged the government to answer these questions in the public domain without any delay
