Shiv Sena corporator demands helpline for ventilators

“I have been approached by several patients who are denied admission by the public hospitals, citing long waiting lists as the reason.

While they are promised a call if a bed becomes available, that call never really comes,” Dr Anuradha Pednekar, who suggested the helpline.

With the rise in dengue admissions in hospitals across the city, the demand for ventilators has gone up. Patients with dengue fever often require ventilator support once their organs are attacked by the virus. The already scarce ventilator beds in tertiary-care KEM, Nair and Sion hospitals are running full to their capacity, said Pednekar. She added, “If patients are managed between various hospitals depending on the ventilator availability, several lives can be saved, which are otherwise lost due to delay in intensive treatment.”

According to her, with a helpline number, several patients can call and know which hospital has a ventilator free or they can register themselves in the waiting list for ventilators.

tabassum.barnagarwala@expressindia.com