Chandigarh, Apr 26
Amidst the continuing surge of COVID-19 infections across the country, the Army has set up a special cell to assist in the last rites of serving and retired personnel and their dependents who succumb to the pandemic. The cell has been set up by Headquarters Delhi Area under the aegis of the Western Command to facilitate the families affected. The central government had issued a special set of procedures to be followed while handling bodies of COVID-19 victims. Like civilian hospitals, the armed forces medical facilities too are under immense strain due to the pandemic. In addition to catering to their own requirements, the forces are also assisting the civilian administration at various places to run treatment facilities and quarantine centers as well as providing doctors and medical staff as and when required.
Facilities at military hospitals are being continuously augmented and additional capacity is being created. As part of this process, 23 mobile oxygen generation plants were airlifted from Germany this week for use in military establishments. A large number of oxygen concentrators are also being procured. The Army also recently converted its Base Hospital in Delhi as an exclusive COVID-19 treatment center, moving out medical OPDs and routine services to the Army Research and Referral Hospital. The COVID beds capacity at Base Hospital has been enhanced by 200 per cent and the number of beds with oxygen support has been doubled.
The Army has also reached out to the veterans, saying that there would be no distinction between the serving and veterans in extending medical treatment to those affected by COVID-19. Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) polyclinics have also been instructed to pro-actively deal with COVID-19 cases and ECHS regional centers have been directed to liaise with empanelled private hospitals for admission and treatment. Ex-servicemen cells and nodal officers have also been nominated at various stations and 24×7 telephone helplines have been established to assist those in need.
Ex-servicemen have also been advised to seek online medical consultancy instead of visiting ECHS polyclinics for routine treatment. A few days ago, the Army had enforced fresh guidelines to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in its establishments by reducing office attendance to 50 per cent, holding meetings through video conferencing, staggering office times and ensuring adherence to COVID protocols during training activities.
All non-essential surgeries in military hospitals have also been put on hold and a contingency plan for medical staff has been evolved.
