BHUBANESWAR: Many senior doctors are not happy at the way mechanical ventilators are being used in the state’s Covid hospitals by inexperienced people with just a few days of critical care training.
Senior intensivists worry wrong or unnecessary use of ventilators may push patients in Covid critical care to a point of no return.
They feel doctors deployed in critical care are treating use of ventilators (intubation) very lightly.
They argue that ventilators should be monitored by experienced intensivist or doctors with considerable experience in critical care.
“One needs at least three years of training in critical care to be able to operate a ventilator.
In the absence of experienced hands, an intern is being asked to put a patient on ventilator support.
This is like asking a novice to start a car.
but without training the person will most probably not be able to drive.
Similarly, an inexperienced doctor won’t be able to monitor and derive right prognosis out of ventilator for further intervention,” said a senior doctor who did not wish to be named.
Doctors said putting a patient on ventilator support requires a lot of considerations and evaluation of vitals.
“It should be used as a last resort although other techniques have come to provide external support to critical patient low on oxygen.
But what is happening in many cases is a standard has been set for doctors in ICU to intubate a patient.
The set standard is based only on oxygen saturation level.
In case the patient has to be put on ventilator, an experienced doctor should decide that,” said another senior doctor in charge of Covid management.
The state had around 750 patients on ventilator support till Monday out of total 1300 beds meant for this.
Many hospitals in the state capital have very experienced doctors from pulmonary medicine, general medicine and anaesthesia department to oversee Covid critical care, but the situation is not that promising in district hospitals.