DC asks hospitals, healthcare staff not to reuse PPE kits and discard them as per protocol

Mysore/Mysuru: The District Administration should hold an exclusive blood (plasma) donation camp to encourage COVID-recovered patients to donate their plasma to help other Coronavirus patients to recover, opined Narasimharaja MLA Tanveer Sait. 

Meeting Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar at DC Office in city yesterday, Sait apprised the DC about the need of setting up an exclusive blood bank for COVID plasma collection. At present, plasma is being collected from COVID patients at the Blood Bank located inside the State-run K.R. Hospital. “Due to this, a normal blood donation camp cannot be conducted here and people are not coming forward to donate blood,” the MLA told the DC.

To prevent this, the District Administration must initiate exclusive plasma donation camps to collect plasma from COVID-recovered patients, he urged the DC. “The recovery rate in Mysuru is high and many recovered patients are coming forward to donate their plasma. Obtaining plasma will also help other patients to recover,” Tanveer Sait felt. Hearing the MLA, DC Abhiram Sankar assured him that he would discuss the issue with his officers and look into the possibility of holding plasma donation camps.

On the COVID-care measures to be taken at Narasimharaja Constituency, the MLA told the DC that there is a need of more doctors and healthcare staff at various COVID Care Centres established in NR Constituency.

PPE kits left to dry

Meanwhile, the DC has directed all the doctors and healthcare workers treating COVID patients in city not to reuse the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and discard the same after one use. This has to be followed both by Government hospitals and private establishments and the used PPE kits must be discarded as per established protocols. 

The DC’s direction comes in the wake of certain people who have been found washing and drying the PPE kits after its use. A few residents of Brindavan Extension on KRS Road had complained to the DC that some healthcare workers of private hospitals were washing and drying the PPE kits like normal clothes. This had made the residents anxious as the used kits may lead to the spread of the virus.

Acting swiftly on the plaint, DC Abhiram Sankar directed the Health Department to ensure that no hospital staff or healthcare professionals resort to reuse the PPE kits.

The DC personally visited the private hospital in question and directed the administration to desist from reusing such kits. 

As per the protocol issued by Indian Council of Medical Research, once used, the PPE kits must be discarded in a proper way. The kits that were put to dry at Brindavan Extension must be disposed of as per protocols, the DC directed. The Health Department has been directed to take further action in this regard.