Kepala Batas field hospital ICU on hold

 

The canopies outside the Hospital Kepala Batas grounds which will serve as the field hospital ICU. (Bernama pic)

KEPALA BATAS: The operation of the intensive care unit (ICU) of the field hospital at the Kepala Batas Hospital (HKB) grounds, scheduled to start today, had to be postponed to Thursday or Friday for upgrading works to ensure safety, especially during a fire outbreak.

Its commander, Dr Mohd Zamri Derahman said that after inspections by the fire department during a full dry run and fire drill today, the ICU’s operation had to be postponed.

“A dry run and fire drill were already conducted yesterday but the fire department wanted to ensure a very tight and high-level safety SOP before the ICU could fully operate.

So today, we conducted another full dry run and fire drill involving all the staff who should be wearing full personal protective equipment so that the fire department could make a full assessment of the SOP set to ensure the safety of all,” he said when met at the ICU.

Zamri said the need for a field hospital ICU was crucial to accommodate critically ill Covid-19 patients as the ICU at HKB was already full.

The ICU which can accommodate 27 beds has been set up at the car park area with 14 marquees erected and four containers placed there.

Setting up of the field hospital started on May 18 with technical advice provided by the health branch of the Malaysian second infantry division headquarters and it also involved two anaesthetists from Tuanku Mizan military hospital and two technical experts on field hospital operations. - FMT