Deluge of patients at Capital Hospital

BHUBANESWAR: As the state capital continued to suffer under sweltering heat, news of diarrhoea and gastroenteritis patients flooding the hospitals across the city kept pouring in. Over 300 cases are being reported each day at Capital Hospital alone.
The city turned into a hot pan, with temperature crossing 44.6 degrees Celsius on Monday. It was recorded at 43.1 degrees on Sunday.Humidity level in the city has also risen above 90 per cent, making life miserable for people of the city.
Of the around 900 outdoor patients to the hospital each day, about 40 per cent are cases of heat exhaustion, reeling of head, vomiting, electrolyte imbalance and restlessness. However, due to lack of a trauma centre in the hospital, doctors are finding it difficult to handle the sudden rise in patient turnover this summer.
The hospital's chief medical officer Umakant Mishra admitted that the number of patients have increased and so has the workload on the doctors. "The turnout of patients has almost doubled in the past few weeks, of which the majority are suffering from diarrhoea and gastroenteritis. The trauma centre proposed in the hospital is in proposal stage as the Cuttack centre will be activated first. However, we are taking all precautionary measures to handle sunstroke patients with an emergency centre for these patients."
Several cases of water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, jaundice, dehydration and vomiting are the major cause of concern, doctors said. "One should see a doctor if he has a headache, is vomiting and or has high fever that persists for more than 24 hours. Extra precaution should be taken in case of children, elderly and pregnant women," said Nihar Ranjan Samal, a physician in the Capital Hospital.
Doctors also advised that people should drink lot of water in order to prevent dehydration. However, roadside drinks or even water must be strictly avoided. "One must be very careful about the food and water they take during the summer. The number of patients with symptoms of water-borne diseases rises during this time of the year. Freshly cooked food must be preferred over uncooked options, since gastro-intestinal problems become rampant. We see a lot of cases of food poisoning, dysentery and other gastric problems during summer months. People should not ignore dehydration or diarrhoea and consult a physician immediately if their condition worsens. Consuming a lot of electrolyte will help," Samal added.
Besides, skin diseases like millia rubra, boils, rashes and sun burns are major cause for discomfort during summer. People should avoid going out in the sun as far as possible, wear lose cotton clothes covering the entire body, use sun glasses and apply sunscreen lotion while going out in the sun, advised dermatologist S K Mohanty.
However, doctors in the hospital rued that manpower crunch has been affecting the process badly, as a single doctor has to attend to at least 100 patients a day. "We are also under lot of stress due to so much of work load under such hot and humid conditions. To handle emergency cases, a doctor needs to stay in good shape as well.