This story originally appeared at the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI) site.
BEGINNING OF THE JOURNEY
My journey with COVID 19 pandemic began in February 2020, when I heard about the first few COVID cases in India. Initially, I was gripped with fear and anxiety as I knew very well what had happened in China and Italy. I was also not sure about how we will be able to manage this crisis, given Indian socioeconomic context and fragile health care infrastructure.
The management committee of our hospital, Holy Family Mumbai, recognized that coronavirus is going to be a major pandemic and would severely affect our country, especially Mumbai. Planning and follow up action immediately began. We were one of the first hospitals to follow infection control measures, including fever clinics and training. As more cases were reported across the city we started to offer triage and referral services, when many hospitals went into lockdown in fear of the pandemic. Later in mid-March, we procured high quality personal protective equipment (PPE), to provide the best possible protection to our medical team. Several rounds of intensive training and motivation building sessions were conducted regularly for doctors as well as for other employees. At the same time, standard operative protocols were prepared.
Read the rest of the story at the CHAI site
About the Author:
Sr Dr Beena UMI belongs to the Congregation of Ursulines of Mary Immaculate (UMI). She obtained her MBBS and MS Degree in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore-India. She has a Diploma in Minimal Access Surgery from World Laparoscopy Hospital Gurgaon and Fellowship in Laparoscopic surgery from Kiel University Germany. She completed a Certificate course in Healthcare design and implementation from Melbourne University, Australia. Presently she is the Deputy Director of the Holy Family Hospital and also works as a Consultant Gynaecologist. Her other responsibilities include Provincial Councillor for the Medical Apostolate of the Sacred Heart Province of UMI Sisters, National President of the Sister Doctors Forum of India and Health secretary for the Mumbai Archdiocese.
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