The horrendous COVID mortality rate of Punjab was due to improper tracheal intubation that doctors did while putting the patient on ventilator. As per the report of the Punjab Health Department that was released later in December 2020, it was mentioned that more than 90 percent of deaths occurred in ICU facilities; specifically during the intubating of the patient. The daily guardian spoke to many Punjab-based government sector doctors on how improper intubation or intubation shock killed patients during the first wave and how intubation training helped curb the menace.
As per the analysis of 4,769 deaths, done by the state health department, 2,092 deaths occurred at government facilities having intensive care units, ventilators and oxygen support system for providing treatment to critically ill patients, while 2,345 people died during treatment at private level-III facilities.
Punjab has the highest mortality rate of 3.1% in the country followed by Maharashtra and Gujarat, where 2.6% and 1.9% of the total infected people have succumbed to the virus. The national fatality rate is 1.4%.
To curb this menace, Punjab doctors were trained by PGIMER ICU specialists specifically on tracheal intubation so that the mortality rate could bring down. As per Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Head of PGIMER, Prof Dr. Arun Bansal, “I can only speak on Intubation training. We did train more than 300 doctors from Punjab on tracheal intubation during the second wave. It is a tedious task and for an MBBS doctor; it is not et all an easy procedure.”
As per Amritsar-based ICU specialist Dr. Amarjeet Singh, “We had seen many patients coming to hospital gasping for breath during the first wave. At that time, maximum the availability of doctors was the only solution. Even Dentists were too asked to be present to manage the patients. Hence, mistakes were bound to happen, we can not say that all mortalities that happened in ICUs were due to improper intubation or intubation shock, but yes, Intubation shock did kill people and those many could have been saved if proper training could have happened.”
“We have been able to save many patients during the second wave due to intubation training that we had received from PGI doctors. Earlier, when patients were coming during the first wave, MBBS students were on task to put them on the ventilator and due to the intubation shock patients dies a prophylactic death”, said Singh while recalling the horror days of the first wave.
