Know these 10 points about how Indian Armed Forces are helping in fight against COVID-19

New Delhi, March 28: In this time of coronavirus crisis which has created havoc in the entire nation, it is not only the government but also the Indian Armed Forces who is taking equally notable measures to fight against COVID-19. All the departments; Indian Navy, Indian Army, Indian Air Force are on their toes to offer help by supplying medical and logistics supports to all the civilians in every way possible. Here are 10 worthy details you need to know :

 

 

1. To aid the civilian authorities in case of emergency, all the resources of the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) are stationed at its disposal.

 

2. 28 service hospitals have been earmarked as virus hospitals for managing purely Coronavirus cases. This includes Armed Forces as well as civilian patients transferred from state health authorities, in case their capacity is overwhelmed.

 

3. To carry out virus testing, there are five hospitals across the Army, Navy and Air Force. These include Army Hospital Research and Referral, Delhi; Command Hospital Air Force, Bangalore and Armed Forces Medical College, Pune; Command Hospital (Central Command) Lucknow; Command Hospital (Northern Command) Udhampur. Six more hospitals are being equipped shortly with the resources to begin testing.

 

4. Medical facilities are also provided to neighbouring countries. A team of Army Medical Corps was sent to the Maldives for capacity building measures and assist in setting up their own testing, treatment and quarantine capacities. The team came back after 10 days arriving on March 20.

 

5. AFMS is ready to dispatch a Rapid response Team to Nepal for assisting them with the situation there. Other assistance for other countries will be provided as and when required.

 

6. The AFMS is presently geared up with adequate PPEs for use in our hospitals. Additional procurement is also being planned to tide over crisis foreseen during the coming weeks and months since the Armed Forces have been directed to augment medical resources for the civil health set up also.

 

7. A shipment of 60,000 face masks ordered by Indian Medical Association, Goa and was stuck at Delhi as trucks could not proceed further in the current situation of lockdown. The collection of the items was coordinated by Air Force Station Palam.

 

8. The Resident Medical Officers are organising workshops for all the personnel dealing with essential services and demonstrating precautions to be taken in avoiding transmission of COVID-19 and simultaneously preparing Cantonment General Hospital (CGH) for any emergencies.

9. Task forces have been set up consisting of office staff to ensure the supply of essential commodities, food items, etc, especially for poor people residing in Cantt areas. All grocery stores are sensitised against black marketing, avoidance of large gatherings and to follow the lockdown guidelines. Cantt Boards are also ensuring continued and undisrupted water supply arrangements, as well as street light services.

 

10. Headquarters Southern Naval Command had prepared one of its training units for airlifting 200 Indian citizens from different parts of the world back to India. A separate CCC facilities for another 200 service personnel and families has been created for any eventuality affecting service personnel.

 

As noted earlier, six quarantine facilities have been set up by Armed Forces which are located at Manesar, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Chennai, Hindan and Mumbai. 1,463 people, including foreigners, have been evacuated from virus-hit countries and observed at these centres. Of them, 1,073 persons are presently under quarantine and being provided proper care. These include evacuees from Iran, Italy, Japan and Malaysia, besides the IAF and medical crew.

 

Three hundred ninety evacuees from China, Japan and IAF evacuation flight crew have been discharged following the completion of their mandatory quarantine period. Meanwhile, three positive cases have been reported; two from Hindan and one from Manesar who was referred to Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi for further treatment. In addition to this, if there is need of more facilities, there are at Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Dundigal near Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kanpur, Jaisalmer, Jorhat and Gorakhpur.