COVID Rerun: VIMSAR Doctor Comes ‘Calling’ To Help Home Isolation Patients In Odisha

Sambalpur: A doctor at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) at Burla has arrived as a messiah for COVID-19 patients under home isolation in Odisha.

A senior resident doctor at VIMSAR, Dr Sanjeeb Mishra launched a telemedicine service on April 25. Since then, Mishra has been receiving around 100 calls for consultation daily from all corners of Odisha including Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

“I decided to start teleconsultation services to counsel patients under home isolation and help them cope with proper medical help,” Mishra was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express.

Along with his regular 12-hour duty at the hospital, the doctor attends to patients calling on the telemedicine service.

“I address queries ranging from medication to line of treatment for symptoms like persistence of fever and cough, loss of appetite and taste, etc. I also make the patients aware of monitoring oxygen levels and decide when to go to a hospital,” he added.

Mishra further said that helping patients in home isolation to cope with their fear and anxiety will also help to somewhat address the shortage of hospital beds at present.

“Odisha and many other states are facing acute shortage of hospital beds because even patients with mild symptoms are getting admitted out of fear. This is why critical patients face trouble finding a bed on time,” he said.

The doctor advised that COVID-19 patients must get admitted to hospital only if the symptoms are critical. “I hope to convince patients about this through teleconsultation,” he said.

Mishra has also shared his number on social media to help spread the word about the service so that most can benefit from it.