 The Apollo Hospitals Group, India's largest healthcare service provider inaugurated their first
Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in Chennai on June 2, 2004.
Dr. Kulandai Kasturi, Head of
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Institute of
Child Health, Chennai inaugurated the ward and thanked the Apollo team for helping the institute with analysis of samples. Dr. Vijay Lakshmi Kamath, Anesthetist and Head of Critical Care Unit,
Sri Ramachandra Medical
College, said the strength of Apollo lay in selecting the right people for specific tasks. The choice of Dr Suchitra Ranjith as the full-time PICU Consultant was another such example, she said.
Preetha
Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals, said the PICU was another feather in the Apollo cap, and this distinction had come thanks to the dedication of doctors,
para-medical staff and all-round administrative support. Dr. Radha Rajagopalan, Director, Medical Education, Apollo Hospitals, was also present at the function.
Suchitra Ranjith has been appointed as a full-time PICU Consultant with Apollo Hospitals. She will be supported by a full-fledged
Cardio Thoracic Surgery team headed by Or. M. R. Girinath, Chief Cardio-Vascular Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals. Dr. Prem Sekar, MRCP Paediatrics, Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist, Dr. D. Kamala, MD, DCh, OM (Neuro), Or. Praveen Goday, AB (Paed), AB (Paed.Gastro, USA), Dr. Revathi Raj, DCh, MRCP (Paed), MRC Patch (Hematology, UK), Dr. Bibhas Kar, Ph.D., Dr. Bagdi MBBS, MS, MNANS, MCh, FALS and Dr. P. Mohan MS, MCh, FRCS, London. A highly trained nursing staff that has been trained to handle patients from the paediatric wards will support
PICU.
In addition to the PICU, the
Neonatology and NICU will support the unit through the latest form of treatment to the neonates born at
Apollo Hospitals or who have been brought from other hospitals / nursing homes. With this, all tests and surgical treatments required for the intensive care will be provided under the same roof.
Preetha Reddy said, "To begin with, the PICU will complement our excellent pre-hospital care teams and the transport incubators. These teams on several occasions have been responsible in stabalising sick children and bringing them to Apollo critical care units. With the exclusive PICU, these children will be treated under the supervision of our super specialists."
The four-bedded PICU has been equipped with all the technical requirements of ICU and special requirements of PICU.
Preetha Reddy said Baby Pritika Yenketeramdoo, from Mauritius, admitted in the PICU is recovering well. Baby Pritika was transferred to Apollo in Chennai from Mauritius when she was just 52 days old. This was the second baby of a young mother who had no complications during pregnancy. The baby, on a routine test, was found to be severely hypoglycemic (low sugar/glucose).
The child underwent sub-total pancreatectomy (a major surgery to remove most of the pancreas) on May 28. Post-operatively, the child's
glucose has returned to near normal levels and she is recuperating. The surgery was performed by Dr Raj Kishore Bagdi, paediatric surgeon at the Apollo Hospitals in Chennai.
RR
|
Apollo's
Paediatric ICU
