St Kitts and Nevis hospitals all set to tackle severe COVID-19 cases

St Kitts and Nevis: As the borders are all set to be reopened on October 31, 2020, hospitals over the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis are ready to care for persons who may become critically affected from the Coronavirus, says Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph N. France General Hospital, Dr Cameron Wilkinson.

“We have been planning for this day for 7 months now, and at the Joseph N. France General Hospital, we have a ward that is assigned for COVID-19 victims only,” he stated. “We have nearly 15 to 18 beds there. That ward has not been in utilization since we have not had any positive cases.”

“But all these beds are equipped and ready. They all have ventilators. As a matter of fact, we have more than an adequate stock of ventilators. We, though, do not hope to get to that degree because even throughout the world as we discovered more about the virus, the need for ventilator care has deteriorated significantly. Still, we can ventilate over 30 patients if we require to.”

Dr Wilkinson remarked that the staff has been prepared in dealing with COVID-19 cases.

“If you were to attend the Joseph N. France Hospital you would see that the emergency chamber was divided into two divisions and we have a section that is designated for persons who have respiratory ailments,” he told. “So when the borders reopen, if we have an extended number of persons with respiratory diseases, they would be guided to that section where there will not be any mix in with the usual patients.”

The Medical Chief of Staff added that even in the eleven clinics throughout the Federation, there are assigned days where persons with respiratory diseases would have been attended.

“You would have been informed that we would have expanded our staff with over 30 nurses and 4 critically care professionals from Cuba,” he said. “They are still here with us, and they will be here for a while till we have grown over the hump where we are confident that there will be no another wave of this pandemic.”

Chair of Nevis' Covid-19 Task Force, Dr Judy Nisbett, said that the Alexandra Hospital also endures ready when the borders reopen.

“We have been anticipating for quite a while. We have been developing our health care workers, instructing them in various areas such as infection prevention and control, contact tracing, and clinical care of patients,” she stated.

Dr Nisbett continued that they have detailed guidelines for clinical care of modest and critical cases if any development happens in the Federation.

Nevis has also drawn specialists from Cuba that have been operating closely with the hospital’s faculty, she replied.

Sixteen beds have been identified to be used if critical cases develop, announced Dr Nisbett. She appended that offsite they have placed eight extra beds in a building that was previously used as a senior citizen home.

Dr Nisbett told that there is also a checkpoint that is at the central gate of the hospital.

“So, if somebody has any respiratory symptoms that is the first section that they will go to of sequence calling forward first,” she said.

The Alexandra Hospital has a whole of eleven ventilators and has secured oxygen concentrators, nebulizers, and has raised its stock of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for its health care workers.