Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Health department on Saturday issued a directive to the district Collectors for management of Covid-19 care facilities in view of impending cyclone ‘Yaas’.
The department ordered the district administrators to appoint nodal officers in all the blocks and districts, open 24x7 control rooms and coordinate with SRC office to deal with any emergency.
The district and local administrators have been directed to remain in readiness and ensure that the following arrangements are in place.
1. Identify nodal officers for district as well as at block level for continuous monitoring and supervision. Share their names, designation and contact number with the State Control Room.
2. Functioning of Control Room to operate on 24x7 basis at district and block level to coordinate with the district level officials, State level departments and SRC office for disaster response activities.
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3. A detailed plan of action regarding operation of the Control Room to be prepared with name, designation, landline and mobile number of the officers managing the control room to be shared with the district level department offices as well as SRC office.
4. There should be adequate power back up arrangements for all the hospitals, labs, vaccine and Oxygen generation plants, other supportive medical facilities. The availability of water, electricity and fuel in the districts/ areas likely to be affected shall be ensured. Alternate fuel supply with adequate fuel and DG sets etc. may be kept in readiness.
5. Contingency plan for opening of medical centers, which should be opened as early as possible. Special emphasis to be given for providing health services in cut off and low lying areas.
6. Plan for providing treatment to the trauma patients at health facilities.
7. Plan for shifting of pregnant women from interior areas to delivery point.
8. RRT movement, ambulance, referral services need be coordinated at block /district level.
9. Disease surveillance and daily reporting during and after cyclonic/flood-like situations.
10. Arrangements should be made for safety of ILR points, shifting of equipment and vaccines wherever required.
11. Since Government offices are functioning with less man power due to COVID-19 situation, a suitable personnel arrangement for meeting the disaster management requirements need to be put in place.
12. Provision of emergency medicines (antipyretic, antibiotics, anti diarrhoeal, ORS, halazone/chlorine tablets, anti snake venom etc.) as well as consumables, in sufficient quantity in hospitals at different levels.
13. Plan for deployment of mobile health teams and opening of medical relief centers to be put in place.
14. Readiness of Inventory of machineries / emergency equipment in the government hospitals with the government sector and private sector.
15. Necessary arrangement is to be made for conducting Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) of the people before evacuating them to the shelters. Medical care and public health interventions need to be planned for camps housing evacuated population. Rapid Antigen Test may be taken up for population in camps followed RT-PCR testing for symptomatic negative Rapid Antigen Tests.
16. Advance planning on evacuation from the community and health facilities which are on the path of cyclone, to safer places/bigger hospitals.
17. The District surveillance units and public health teams mobilised for Covid management need also to be reoriented on possible outbreak of epidemic prone diseases such as influenza, measles, acute diarrhoeal diseases, dysentery, dengue, malaria etc.
18. Health facilities, at all levels in the areas likely to be affected including those identified for Covid treatment need to be made fully functional with additional human resource drawn from unaffected districts.
19. Advance planning should be done for ensuring unhindered movement of oxygen tankers especially on advance movement of empty- tankers by Air Force aircrafts or Indian Railways.
20. All Covid Hospitals/ CCCs may be stocked with all essential medicines/Oxygen cylinders/ Oxygen and other required manpower so as to provide uninterrupted medical support to the patients.
21. Senior citizens and those suffering from diabetes, hypertension, liver/ kidney, respiratory diseases, need to be specifically monitored with Covid prospective as they constitute people under high risk.
22. As communication disruption is also likely to occur at some places, the major hospitals in the districts likely to be affected may be provided with satellite phones/HAM radio connections.
23. In areas ravaged by cyclone, the situation requires adequate focus on Covid appropriate behaviour i.e. ‘do gaj ki doori’ or maintaining physical distance, hand hygiene, wearing masks etc., especially in camp settings.
24. The district and block administration shall identify health facilities in low lying areas of districts likely to be affected. Any medical services including medical stores in the ground floor/basement shall be shifted to higher floors or other buildings to avoid damage.
(Edited by Ramakant Biswas)