Tales From the Trenches E04: COVID Surge in India

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Overview:

In this episode, Tiffany talks with Dr. Meenhas Oravil from Kerala India. They discuss the current COVID wave and at the time of this podcast recording, the Delta variant was just beginning to take hold. Take a listen!

0:00-1:01 – Introduction

Host: Tiffany Proffitt DO, Staff Emergency Medicine Physician Honor Health

Guest: Dr. Meenhas Oravil Kunhahamed, MD DNB is a Consultant Emergency Physician at Daya General Hospital – Thrissur, Kerala, India. He is a CanadiEM Junior Infographic Editor, and is interested in FOAMed, Medical Research & Innovation, Trauma care, Toxicology, and Point of Care Ultrasound.

Consultant Emergency Physician,Daya General Hospital Ltd, Near Viyyur Bridge, Thrissur, Kerala – 680 022

Twitter: @minhashyder

linkedin: dr-minhas-oravil-174389114/

1:01- 23:40 – Questions + Discussion

  1. 1:01 – 1:36: COVID cases at time of recording in India
  2. 1:36 – 3:11: How have your Emergency Department shifts changed?
  3. 3:11 – 5:14: What personal protective equipment do you have available to you?
  4. 5:15 – 6:05: Do you have enough oxygen or nasal cannulas or ventilators for your patients?
  5. 6:05 – 8:41: Do you have Intensive Care or Medical Beds for your COVID patients or are your hospitals completely full?
  6. 8:42 – 9:53: How has your system adapted to the strain of COVID patients?
  7. 9: 54 – 11:11: Do you have ad hoc medical units to help accommodate the high volume of COVID patients?
  8. 11:12 – 12:57: What is your protocol for discharging versus admitting versus transferring your COVID patients?
  9. 12:58 – 14:01: Do the black markets for oxygen and baseline challenges in your health system add to your daily frustration during the COVID surges?
  10. 14:02 – 15:22: When a COVID positive patient codes do you attempt to resuscitate the patient? During the worst waves in Canada and the United States some hospital systems were not resuscitating coding COVID positive patients to prevent exposure to the staff and to save equipment.
  11. 15:23 – 17:06: What is the greatest challenge you face when trying to manage the increasing volume of COVID patients?
  12. 17:07 – 18:46: Has COVID made you question pursuing Emergency Medicine as a career?
  13. 18:46 – 20:36: What is your decontamination routine when you go home?
  14. 20:37 – 21:47: Have the COVID restrictions, such as remote learning, allowed you extra time with your family?
  15. 21:48 – 23:39: What is something positive, for you personally, that is a result of changes made because of the COVID pandemic?
  16. 23:40 – 25:31: Conclusion – Last words of wisdom and thoughts to the Emergency Medicine physicians around the world.

25:32 – 26:14 – Update and Outro

This post was copyedited by Matthew Sem and Dr. Kevin Dong

Tiffany Proffitt

Staff Emergency Medicine Physician at Honor Health
@promammadoc, Twin Mom, MedEd Enthusiast, master of toddler style dancing, Former Podcaster with EMRACAST