Bidyanondo Foundation, an educational voluntary organization, is going to set up a field hospital in the port city amid the surging Covid-19 cases and fatalities.
A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities.
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Jamal Uddin, a volunteer of the organization and coordinator of the facility said that a convention centre near Butterfly Park at Patenga area in the city is going to be turned into the field hospital.
“If everything goes accordingly, we will be able to launch the facility by the first week of July. Initially, we will start with 50 beds and gradually it will be upgraded into 100 beds,” said Jamal.
“Currently, we are procuring the necessary medical equipment for the facility. We have already procured 50 beds for the hospital. We are now working to install the central oxygen system for the hospital,” the volunteer said.
“12 doctors, 18 nurses and 50 volunteers will work with the hospital. There will have a 5-bed observation unit at the facility for the suspected Covid-19 patients. After being tested positive for Covid-19, the patients will be shifted to the coronavirus isolation ward,” Jamal added.
“Besides, there will have an outpatient department where any patient with any symptoms could receive treatment. In order to ease the sufferings of the patients with respiratory problems, the facility will be equipped with high flow nasal cannula therapy,” he said.
Earlier, Bidyanondo Foundation came under the attack of Islamist fundamentalist on social media and was targeted for its alleged Hindu name.
The attacks and propaganda against Kishore Kumar Das, founder of Bidyanondo Foundation, became so intense that he was forced to think of stepping down as the chairperson of the foundation.
Previously, Chittagong Field Hospital, first of its kind in the country, started its operation on April 21 with 60 beds over around 7,000sqft at Faujdarhat area under Sitakunda upazila.
As of Tuesday, Chittagong recorded 5,406 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (Covid-19).
Of them, 124 patients have already died of the deadly viral disease.