Vishakapatnam naval dockyard designs remote COVID-19 patient-monitoring facility

Hyderabad: The naval dockyard in Vishakapatnam has designed a remote COVID-19 patient monitoring facility after a request for the same from the Vishakha Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS).

The remote monitoring facility has been set up in 48 beds at VIMS hospital. A digital video and audio recorder are fixed near the beds and an HDMI output is attached to a display outside the ICU where the staff can monitor the condition of the patients.

Through the digital screen, health care officials, including doctors and nurses, can monitor all 48 beds simultaneously or can zoom on one single patient. There is also an audio alarm which is fixed to the digital output in case of emergencies. Apart from that, doctors can also monitor their patients from their phones using Ethernet. Hence, it is not necessary for a doctor to sit in front of the screen. Six naval officers worked on the design and implementation which was completed in six days and was handed over to VIMS.

The facility was developed in order to ensure that health care professionals were protected following reports of nurses in a Mumbai hospital getting infected with COVID-19. In Rajasthan, too, around 17 health care workers had tested positive for COVID-19. As of 10 May, India has reported 62,939 positive cases.