1 paediatrician for 4L children in Kaithal dist

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Kaithal, June 28

Amid anticipation of the third wave, which may affect children the most, the childcare infrastructure of Kaithal district is not sufficient. The situation can be gauged from the fact that there is only one regular paediatrician in the government-run hospitals of the district, while the estimated population of children (upto the age group 14) is around 4 lakh.

The Civil Hospital does not have a paediatrics intensive care unit (PICU), which is required for the critical care of the children upto the age group of 14.

As per the information gathered by The Tribune, there is a requirement of three paediatricians and four medical officers trained to handle critical paediatrics care patients.

The Civil Hospital has a sick newborn care unit (SNCU), which has 18 beds. Besides, a ward of 10 beds for the newborn children care, sources said.

It has seven ventilators for adult care, which can be converted into paediatrics ventilators by changing its mode. The Civil Surgeon office has sent a requirement of three paediatrics ventilators and three bubble c-pap machines to the headquarters, said the sources. The department has received 17 bi-pap machines.

“We have learnt a lot from the second wave and we are making efforts to strengthen the childcare infrastructure in the district keeping in view the third wave. We are developing a PICU in the hospital. Four beds have been dedicated for this unit and its capacity can be increased if required,” said Dr Shailender Mamgain Shelly,Civil Surgeon. He said the requirement for the doctors has also been sent to the headquarters.

As of now, 22 beds have been allocated in the Covid ward for the paediatrics patients, he added.