Medical Hotline Project
COVID-19 Hotline
A total of 12,555 inquiries were answered through the medical hotline. Calls came in from all around the country, including a few from abroad looking for the service for their relatives in Nepal. The team members were augmented with needs, starting with a team of trained Doctors and registered nurses in a shift-by-shift work division. This program was funded by Canada High Commission. This hotline is under the joint collaboration in response to COVID by Alliance for Nepal (a volunteer network of more than 10 organizations).
With a team of 9 members including trained Medical officers and Nurses, the hotline answers 160 calls daily on average.
Home Isolation Care for COVID-19 Patients
ASK has managed home isolation monitoring for over 500 COVID-19 patients, with a recovery rate and no reported deaths. Approximately 10-15% of cases were referred to hospitals, saving many lives. This program was funded by Canada High Commission.
Monitoring in Home isolation
ASK foundation had coordinated with a medical team and connected patients for home isolation monitoring and counseling. Some urgent cases were promptly referred to the hospital as a result of the medical hotline, while less symptomatic and controllable situations were indicated for enrollment.
- Tele triaging and the government’s COVID-19 affirmative criteria were used to determine who was qualified for home isolation. Patients were monitored regularly after they were enrolled, and this was done through constant communication.
- A team of medical professionals was assigned to check up on the patients, and counseling was provided. A total of 1085 cases were monitored in home isolation.
- Besides regular doctor consultations, nursing monitoring was also conducted, which confirmed normal status throughout the observation. This was done to treat COVID-19 cases that could be managed at home while the disease was monitored.
- Dietary monitoring was implemented through a dietary food plan during the isolation period to help boost patients’ immunity.
Tele-ICU
In collaboration with America Nepal Medical Foundation (ANMF) and its resources, we provided Tele- consultation to Doctors who are managing COVID-19 cases in various COVID-19 hospitals for around 4 weeks. Such COVID-19 hospitals and the healthcare workers were also trained by experts. The information system was recorded by ASK nursing staff and coordinated with hospitals and experts.
ASK Foundation had agreements with Narayani Sub-regional Hospital, Janakpur Regional Hospital, Rapti Zonal Hospital, and Seti Regional Hospital to provide Tele ICU services. These hospitals lacked medical professionals to support critical COVID-19 patients in the Intensive Care Unit.
- Tele-ICU was initiated to address the critical patients in peripheral hospitals of the country where ICU setups were present but no critical care experts were available.
- Tele ICU consultations for 20 cases were made. Some of the cases were also consulted by the ICU experts from private hospitals in Kathmandu
Tele-support to Sano Paila: Sano Paila has been providing free telemedicine support to Nepalese communities in Province 2, which has been supported for higher level discussion and consultation by ASK foundation during the COVID 19 pandemic. ASK pool of consultants supported the telemedicine service run by Sano Paila.
