Challenges Faced in Treating COVID Patients and Lessons Learnt

Treatment of COVID-19 patients is an immense administrative as well as clinical challenge. The setting up of a dedicated COVID-19 care centre within a short time span, adequate manpower deployment, healthcare worker education and training, provision of facilities for donning and doffing and waste disposal were some of the unique administrative problems. On the other hand, as clinicians we faced enormous hurdles in attempting to treat a disease on which there was no established knowledge and no defined, well-proven treatment protocols and which could strike anyone, anywhere in myriad ways. Coupled with this difficulty in diagnosis and treatment was the challenge of serving COVID-19 patients of every age and clinical requirement, under one roof. Healthcare workers faced a tough time, handling physical discomfort while working for long hours in PPE, along with the fear and apprehension of contracting the infection in the line of duty, and carrying it back home. Mental health issues abounded, both amongst the patients and their caregivers, due to heightened fear, anxiety and loneliness. We share our experience in dealing with the pandemic, the administrative and clinical challenges we faced and some of the ways we overcame them. We further share some of the insights we gleaned from this experience, which may help in better preparation for the future.