Oishani Mojumder By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Junior doctors and nurses working in emergency and casualty wards of government hospitals claim they are at risk of contracting dangerous infections due to lack of enough disposable protective gear. This also poses a massive risk to the patients as they may also be exposed to infections if doctors are forced to reuse their protective gear. Explaining the situation in an emergency ward, Dr R Naresh, junior doctor at Government Chest Hospital, said that junior doctors and nurses are usually in a race against time to treat patients and therefore cannot afford to look around or procure disposable gloves, masks or gowns. "While administering treatment in emergency wards, healthcare workers are exposed to dangerous infections such as swine flu and tuberculosis. Furthermore, needle stick injuries may transmit HIV and HBsAg, along with other blood-borne infections. Chances of contracting HIV is 0.5 to 1 per cent, however, the chances of contracting HBsAd is almost 6 to 30 per cent," said Dr Naresh. This also poses a massive risk to the patients as they may also be exposed to infections if doctors are forced to reuse their protective gear. A junior doctor from Koti Maternity Hospital said, "While we do have disposable protective gear, the sterilisation of suture kits, equipment or reusable kits are not done properly. Also, there aren’t separate kits for HIV positive patients. The same kits are used for uninfected patients after minimal sterilisation. Deliveries in emergency wards are the trickiest as we are exposed to large quantities of blood and amniotic fluid. An HBsAg infection can often spread with just skin contact." Especially for HIV+ cases, the basic requirement is double glasses, masks, glasses to cover eye areas, stockings to cover feet and disposable gowns. "But most of the government hospitals do not have these kits," said the doctor. While government hospitals have insufficient basic equipment, most private hospitals provide these abundantly to their doctors. Speaking to Express, head nurse Vijaya, president of NIMS nursing union, said, "There is no lack of protective gear in NIMS; we are well-stocked."

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