Indore: The real heroes who weathered these torrid times presented their first take to Free Press.
Excerpts:
Dr Salil Bhargava | ANANDSHIVRE
Support us, don’t break our morale, says Dr Salil Bhargava
“We are frontline fighters and thus we are the faces you see fighting the corona menace. But there’s a huge team backing us on each front. Corona is of mammoth size and there are many views and aspects to it and we are still getting to know things related to it. We still haven’t seen or known all of it. From the first patient… till date, doctors, nurses, ward boys, cleaning staff, and police staff... the list of corona fighters is endless.
Even cops stayed with us round-the-clock and protected us from attacks. I want to talk about people who are behind the scenes. Nurses have toiled in back-to-back shifts all geared up in PPE kits. Confined in PPE kits for hours is a bigger challenge for medical staff than treating patients.
We have tried to save every life. Many people are scared to get out of their homes. Doctors and nurses are also scared of venturing out. Therefore, we urge people to support and motivate us and not break our morale.”
ANANDSHIVRE
Giving world class treatment is a positive, says Dr Ravi Dossi
“I express my heartfelt gratitude to Moti Singh. It is because of Dhoodh Sangh that I could work peacefully, as I knew that both my kids would be getting their quota of milk and bread delivered at home.
Dr Bhargava is my teacher. Dr Pandey and I have discussed cases in details during these times. Corona has challenged us, but it has also taught us several lessons. It has been a moment to understand our inner strengths and our ability to come together and work as a team and counter the biggest challenges with collective effort. Our biggest achievement has been the world class treatment facilities. In this crisis, we have raised the bar. We have provided the best medicare which is not available even in developed countires like America and Europe. It has showcased our standards.”
A-1 CREATION
Corona will fall, lesser mortality rate in coming days, says Dr VP Pandey
“Indore has won 90 percent of the battle against corona only because of our collective efforts. The society in general, district administration, politicians to corona warriors, we have all worked together with one aim to beat corona.
Indore is becoming a role model for other states and cities all over the world. We are just representing a team where a mother, after feeding her child, prepares to get into a PPE kit and slog for 18 to 20 hours. You cannot imagine one hour in a PPE kit, it is a scary experience.
We have to be prepared to lose some lives but we have to save as many as possible. In the coming days, cases will be more, but the mortality rate will come down. Coronavirus will see a downfall like influenza.
My elder sister’s family in Ghaziabad was inflicted with corona. Out of 11 family members, 9 tested positive but two remained negative as they took requisite precautions.
We must recall that there are many such viruses that have troubled us before. Corona is likely to mutate and attack us again, but what changes is our immunity to fight it. We need to look at the positive aspects.”
ANANDSHIVRE
Being in the red zone hospital
“In March, the corona effect was not felt. We were meticulously planning and preparing ourselves. By March-end, there was a sudden spike in corona cases. We were in the red zone hospital. Initially, we had an arrangement of 500 beds to treat patients. Now, with the cases rising, we have jacked up our capacity to 900 beds. Our biggest challenge was staff strength as our hospital is far from the city. However, the district administration helped us and now we have cured 1,200 patients successfully.”
- Dr Sudhir Mourya
ANANDSHIVRE
Admitting a mom on mother’s day, supporting as warrior
We are a part of the SDM team and visit various areas in the city to identify and ferry corona patients. Going to a particular place and informing the person about his/her positive status was a hugely challenging job. The incident of Tat Patti really broke our spirit, but with support from the administraton and cops, we rose as if like the Phoenix and began our battle against corona. We have seen an extremely bad phase. Informing people about their positive status needed huge guts. After the prelim job, we had to motivate them and tell them that they would be just fine. I still remember, the most heart wrenching experience was on Mother’s day when we went to a house and got a 1-year-old kid, 4-day-old baby and their mother admitted. The shocked mom, in tears, actually asked me if this is what I want to give her on Mother’s day. It shattered my heart… but I assured her that she will recover with her children.
Thankfully after 10 days, I got a Thank You call from her. All the three recovered and returned home.”
- Dr Trapti Katdare
