After the Flood: Chennai-based Kauvery Hospital Lists Out Precautions

CHENNAI, India, December 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Requests Chennaites to Rebuild Yourself, Rebuild Chennai

The rains are gone, but there's water everywhere. This is the grim aftermath of the floods that struck Chennai. For almost a month, Chennai faced deluge after deluge that culminated in flooding at a level never seen before in the city's recent history. But through all this, one thing that never sunk was the spirit of Chennai. As the water levels rose, so did the hearts of the citizens. People were rescuing each other, cooking for each other and everyone chipped in with something or the other that they could do for those in need. However, now that the floods have passed, the spirit that propelled people to unimaginable acts of bravery, kindness and sacrifice should not let up.

After the rains, comes the rebuilding. After any natural disaster, a city requires a lot of help to get back on its feet. But most of this help can and has to come from the only people that truly matter, the people of Chennai. First one needs to acknowledge that rebuilding the city is the need of the hour and the best way to do it is to rebuild yourself. The need of the hour is not so much the large scale efforts but small efforts by people that add up to a significant outcome. You may ask, how does one rebuild oneself? The answer is to learn how to do the right things, the right way and at the right time while cautiously staying away from what should not be done.

In the face of the overwhelming calamity last month, Kauvery Hospital ensured delivery of hassle-free services and healthcare to hundreds of ailing people. As the floodwaters rose, doctors, nurses, support staff, technicians and the administrators came together to keep services running on war footing. A control room was set up on the evening of 1st December 2015 under the leadership of the medical administrator and across departments people were assigned roles in organizing emergency needs.

The head of the institution sent a clear message to all senior doctors heading the various departments to ensure their availability at all times to run essential emergency services. Instructions were sent out to everyone including the duty doctors to never leave the patients until and unless a reliever took charge. While this took care of seamless delivery of medical care and emergency services, the hospital still needed oxygen and fuel for generators to keep functioning as power went out throughout most of the city. These essentials were promptly brought in from the units in Trichy and Hosur. This ensured that supplies were stocked and the power was available throughout.

A number of patients were on dialysis and dialysis units were kept functioning throughout the floods because any downtime on the dialysis machines would have been very risky for the CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) patients. Additional stocks of dialysis fluid were proactively sourced and functioned so well that patients from other non-operational hospitals were brought in and taken care of. More than 25 patients benefited from these resourceful measures during these trying times.

Kauvery Hospital believes the resourcefulness shown averted a catastrophe and this is why the rebuilding doesn't have to start from outside but has to start from within. Help continues to arrive, but the best help that can possibly be mustered is from within. The floods have left many areas waterlogged as dirt and mold cover entire homes and areas.

In these times of uncertainty, this is what you can do to positively protect yourself and your family from falling prey to the aftermath of the floods. 

Pump water out in phases. 

If you're pumping water out of your house, pump only a few inches in a day. Walls can be soaked heavily from rain and if the water is pumped out fast, the building can possibly buckle under the weight depending on the structure.

Clean and disinfect your home thoroughly. Use strong floor cleaner, disinfectant and hot water. 

This is one of the first things you need to do. Floodwaters bring in a veritable swarm of unsavory and infectious stuff into your home. The best way to clean your damp floors and walls is to first thoroughly wash and drain with a jet of water or buckets of fresh water. Once the dirt is out, wipe and mop with floor cleaner solution and finally wipe with a strong mix of disinfectant and water.

Use face masks and gloves while cleaning fungus and mold on furniture. 

High humidity levels from the floods and heavy rains can cause dangerous strains of mold and fungus to grow on all your clothes, carpets, furniture, sheets and walls. The first step is to discard all spoiled food and vegetables. The next is to try to dry affected furniture and carpets in the sun, dust off the dry fungus or wipe fungus off surfaces with a strong solution of disinfectant. For clothes, soak in very hot water, wash with disinfectant and dry in the sun. Most important is to wear a face mask and plastic or rubber gloves when handling mold. Mold can be an extreme allergen to some people and it's not worth the risk.

Protect your skin from cuts and bruises. Floodwater can spread dangerous diseases. 

Floodwaters can carry dangerous bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms. You can possibly contract deadly diseases like Leptospirosis and Tetanus if you get a cut on your feet or hands while wading through floodwater. This is why you need to avoid floodwater if you have any fresh cuts or bruises on your skin. If in doubt, please visit your nearest hospital to get tested and treated for any infections including skin conditions you may have picked up from the floodwater.

Watch out for rodents and snakes. Know First-Aid and keep emergency numbers handy. 

Floodwaters can be full of animals, insects, worms and snakes that can pose a variety of threats to you. Avoid wading through floodwater in the dark and always know that any kind of floodwater is risky to wade in. Insect bites and snake bites are common during floods and it is essential that you know how to perform first-aid in such cases and have emergency numbers handy.

Be careful to not consume contaminated water and food. If in doubt, throw away. 

Most foods tend to go bad with time. Check to see whether the food you are about to eat is unspoiled and devoid of any strange odor. If in doubt, err on the side of caution and throw it away. It is safer to stay hungry than to be struck down with diseases from contaminated or spoiled food. The number one thing to do is to throw away everything in your refrigerator and wipe it down thoroughly. The long power cuts would have turned most of your refrigerators contents unusable anyway.

Wash your legs and hands thoroughly after wading through floodwaters. Everytime. 

You may think it is just water, but the water dries out and leaves harmful bacteria, fungi and pollutant residue on your limbs that will potentially develop into a rash or skin infection of some sort. This is why you should shower or wash hands and legs thoroughly after wading through floodwater.

Boil water for a full minute before consuming. This is enough to kill all dangerous germs in it.  

You might think that your drinking water comes from a can and it is safe. However, you have no idea of how the cans were transported during floods or if they were submerged in floodwater. Most bad quality water cans leak water and you have no idea how they were stored, so it's always safe to assume that water needs to be boiled before it is consumed. Always put the water in a vessel on a stove and wait till the water starts boiling. Once it does, let it boil for one minute, switch off the gas, cool and consume. This kills almost all the microbes in the water and makes it safe to drink.

About Kauvery Hospital: 

With a 200-bed multi-specialty hospital in Alwarpet, Chennai, Kauvery Hospital has marked its presence in this bustling capital of Tamil Nadu that is home to 4.5 million people. In keeping with Kauvery's high standards, our hospital in Chennai boasts world-class facilities, top-of-the-line infrastructure, the best doctors and highly trained medical staff who cater to all your needs with a smile. Kauvery Hospital, Chennai is an imposing building spanning seven floors located right in the middle of the city just adjacent to Alwarpet Flyover. We're very easy to reach from all major locations in Chennai. Under astute leadership and strong management, Kauvery Hospital, Chennai has evolved as a centre of excellence in medicine providing the highest quality standards of medical treatment to all sections of the society. Our work has always been guided by the needs of patients and delivered by our perfectly combined revolutionary technology, best medical expertise and advanced procedures. For more information, visit http://www.kauveryhospital.com

Media Contact:
R.Venkat Ramanan
[email protected]
+91-9841313473
Senior Manager
Tinacca Media