Setting up of inter-active tele-medical health kiosks to screen high risk cardiac and pulmonary patients will be of great help in reducing the number of cardiac casualties on the Sabarimala trekking path, says Dr. M.S.Umesh, District Police Surgeon at Pathanamthitta General Hospital.
Talking to The Hindu, Dr. Umesh said the proposed inter-active health kiosk is a computerised registration system with medical screening devices and health information portal that could provide information access to the needy via electronic methods.
It should be a user-friendly compact installation where vital signs of high risk patients are monitored and clinical instructions and precautionary advises are given. A context-specific and dynamic healthcare design and architecture is a key factor in the installation of health kiosks at a pilgrim centre like Sabarimala.
According to him, the proposed health kiosks should be designed in such a way that it can provide the health profile of a high risk pilgrim with the help of computer-aided electronic monitors so that the pilgrims will have the facility for health check-up at different points on the Pampa-Sannidhanam trekking path.
He said interactive medical kiosks exist in various versions in several countries.
Installation of a few health kiosks at select points on the Neelimala-Sabaripeetom stretch of the trekking path is advisable in the present context of increasing instances of cardiac mortalities, he adds. A trained male nurse will be enough to manage the kiosk and the risky patients could be sent to the nearest healthcare centre for further clinical advise and medical treatment, if needed, says Dr. Umesh.
According to Dr. Umesh, conceptualisation of such an interactive medical kiosk in the medical care sector of Kerala is a very important aspect, especially for its implementation at Sabarimala as a pilot project.
