New ICU, OT at PMCH to become functional soon

PATNA: A 12-bed intensive care unit (ICU) and a well-equipped modular operation theatre (OT) are likely to become functional at the burn unit of the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) next week.
“The total number of beds in the burn unit will increase to 68,” PMCH principal Dr V P Choudhary told this newspaper on Monday.
Around 300 patients with severe or minor burn injuries from different parts of the state are treated at the PMCH every month.The existing 56 beds were proving to be inadequate as some patients had to stay at the hospital for a longer period.
Choudhary claimed that the new ICU and OT would be aseptic. “We will ensure that the environment in the ICU and the OT of the burn unit is germ-free,” he said.
The PMCH has also finalized a proposal to launch a ‘skin bank’ in the burn unit. The PMCH principal said, “There is no skin bank in Bihar and many other states of the country. Burn injuries can affect a patient physically as well as psychologically. The skin bank will have facilities to harvest and preserve parts of the skin voluntarily donated by healthy people or collected from dead bodies. A proposal in this regard will soon be submitted to the health department.”