WHO team visits SPCCC, ITBP deploys stress counsellors to soothe patients’ frayed nerves

Mukesh Ranjan
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 12

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A team of World Health Organisation (WHO) India on Wednesday visited the ITBP-run 500 bedded Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre (SPCCC), as the paramilitary has deputed stress counsellors for the patients recovering with oxygen support.

Officials in the ITBP said on their visit to the Centre the WHO team members led by Dr Vishesh praised the efforts being made at the SPCCC by the Doctors, paramedic and stress counsellors of the force.

“The WHO team also interacted with the healthcare and frontline workers at the Centre and witnessed the entire operation of the facility including treatment protocols, patients’ case sheet and administrative setup,” said a senior officer deputed there, while adding that the visiting experts were briefed by Dr Prashant Mishra, the Chief Medical Officer of the ITBP.

At present, there are more than 350 patients admitted to the Centre who are being treated on “uninterrupted” oxygen support. A team of at least 30 stress counsellors has been deployed to soothe the frayed nerves of the inmates and their attendants, the officials said.

Donning white PPE or personal protection suits with “stress counsellors” scribbled on them, these professionals take rounds of the facility and interact with the patients in the morning hours.

“The ITBP is probably the only force that has stress counsellors in its ranks. They have been trained at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru,” a senior officer of the border guarding force said.

During regular times, the stress counsellors interact with the troops, but now they have been deputed to the SPCCC to help in reducing the anxiety of patients and their attendants, he added.

“Some old or weak patients have been allowed to have attendants at the centre. The counsellors talk to them about everything… physical exercises to keep fit, how to divert the mind from the fear of the unknown, anxiety and even what is happening across the globe on the COVID-19 battlefront,” the officer said.