Cry for a hospital bed!

Mahfuja Mukul: Two women are standing in front of the emergency department of Corona Unit at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, two oxygen cylinders in front of their feet. Corona has brought a dying patient from Comilla. They are repeatedly looking inside the hospital. The men who came with him in an attempt to admit the patient went inside to talk.
During the conversation, they said, the patient’s condition is bad. But they have heard that there is no bed in the government hospital. Especially the ICU is not empty. So he came with two oxygen cylinders for fear of having to visit different hospitals.
Anwara Begum, 60, is lying next to them in another ambulance. Putting oxygen tube in the mouth, breathing frequently.
His relatives said he was diagnosed with pneumonia and then Corona. Doctors have referred him here from Mitford Hospital, trying to get admitted for an hour. Still could not be admitted.
At the same time, a young man was seen tied to the back of a motorcycle with an oxygen cylinder rope. He stopped the motorcycle and quickly untied the rope and went inside the hospital with oxygen.
The young man said that his friend’s mother was admitted to the hospital. Oxygen supply is sometimes deficient. So he refilled the oxygen cylinder he had bought earlier.
All events yester at noon. This is how the patients were coming to the hospital in front of the emergency department of the corona unit of DMCH-2. Most of them are from outside Dhaka and surrounding areas.
Due to the increase in corona infection, the patient pressure has increased alarmingly in various corona dedicated hospitals including Dhamek in the capital. There is an outcry, especially for the ICU bed. The relatives of the patient are going from hospital to hospital to buy oxygen cylinders with their own money. Although ICU is needed, many people are not getting a normal bed.
As of July 30, according to the Department of Health, only 13 of the 364 ICU beds in the capital’s 18 government-run Corona Dedicated Hospitals are vacant. In addition, only 40 out of 432 beds in the High-Dependency Unit (HDU) are vacant.
On the other hand, out of 691 ICUs in 27 private corona hospitals, 6 are empty and only 6 out of 708 HDU beds are vacant.
In this regard, the spokesman of the Department of Health, Prof. Md. Nazmul Islam said, ‘The pressure on the hospitals in the capital has increased due to the increase in corona infection. Once a patient is admitted, it takes an average of six to seven days or more for the bed to be emptied. For this reason, if the infection is not reduced, it will be impossible to place the patients in the hospital.
He added that in this situation, they are trying to provide services to the patients in various ways including setting up a field hospital in the capital.
A member of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 control said: It would be very sad if the patient died without getting oxygen. The people of the country have to abide by 100% health rules