KOLKATA: The next time you land up at a government hospital with an emergency, especially at night, the person attending you could be a paramedic trainee , only a few days into the course. The person making a channel on a patient in the OT could also be an OT technology trainee.In a startling revelation, these trainees said that they are asked to take up such critical work just days into the course, endangering lives of the patients. They also alleged they are not given protective gear when handling patients with contagious ailment or while working in a lab , exposing them to radiation.“Only three days into the course, I was allotted night duty in the cardiology department where a patient was sent from the emergency. The post-doctoral trainee doctor asked me to administer CPR to the patient, but I had no idea about the procedure,” said a first year cath lab technology student at SSKM Hospital.All the government medical colleges have been running paramedic courses since 2002 under the State Medical Faculty of West Bengal , an autonomous body. Class XII pass-outs with physics, chemistry and biology can apply for the courses. These students are allegedly asked to handle critical cases even before their first lessons. They are given a duty roster days after enrolling for the course.“There are two issues — one concerning the health hazards we face while working without protective gear and another is endangering the life of the patients,” said a student of medical laboratory technology at Medical College and Hospital.They cited the example of an OT technology trainee who was asked to make a channel on a patient before a surgery. Though the patient was Hepatitis B positive, the student was neither asked to use gloves nor was she told about the patient’s condition. As a result, the patient’s blood spurted on her hand.Swasthya Bhawan officials said these issues are being discussed and steps are being planned to address them. “We are in touch with health officials and ministers. We are hopeful to find solutions soon,” said Sagnik Saha, a final-year medical technology student who is also a leader of the All Bengal Paramedic Students’ Unit.

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