The horrific incidents of infant deaths are nothing new in West Bengal. The shocking figures of previous years state a horrendous truth about the condition of infants in the government run hospitals in the state.A number of government run hospitals in the state have witnessed similar haunting experience in the past too.
After Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, West Bengal stands fourth in the infant mortality rate.
As per the HMIS reports, 26.3 percent infants died within 24 hours after birth in 2009-10 in the state.
Moreover, while 41 percent died within seven days after their birth while 18 percent of infants died within one year of their survival in West Bengal in 2009-10.
ICU on wheels:
To keep this situation in view, West Bengal Government has decided to launch mobile intensive care unit (ICU) to ferry new-born babies in critical conditions..The transit ambulance or ICU-on-wheels would carry the sick babies from home to government hospitals with sick new born care units (SNCUs) for treatment.
According to the ministers of Health Department of the state:
The mobile ICU, which would be equipped with critical life-support gadget along with specialists and other nursing staff, would be rolled on next month by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. To begin with, the facility will be launched in Kolkata with a view to arresting the infant moralities. It has been observed that the delay in transit of sick babies was the major reasons for infant mortality in the state.
Once the project runs successfully in Kolkata, the same scheme will be replicated in other districts of the state and which will definetly helps the parents of the critically ill infants and protect infant from death.
Features of the ICU:
The mobile intensive care unit will have all the modern medical facility.The idea is to lower the transit time and make sure that the condition of babies does not deteriorate during the journey, which often happens.
- The ambulance will have a ventilator,
- A pulse-oxymetre,
- Cardiac monitor,
- Defebrillator
- A USG machine apart from basic facilities like an oxygen cylinder
- Intra-venous fluid injecting systems
- It will have jerk-resistant beds. Jerking often causes brain injury to critically ill babies in transit.
Hope This project will helps the people of West bengal to save the life of critical ill infants.