Shravanabelagola, January 12, 2006: In the wake of two deaths owing to heart ailments recorded at the 1993 Mahamasthakabhisheka Celebrations, no effort is being spared by the State Government and the Shravanabelagola Digambar Jain Mutt, which has brought in the leading Bangalore based cardiac group Vivus, to ensure state-of-the art cardiac care for the pilgrims.
According to Vivus Group Chairman and Managing Director and Cardiologist Dr. S.S. Ramesh, the Group is managing a 50-bed heart centre Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain Heart Centre at Bangalore since the last 5 years. The
Group’s specialists provide cardiac care in 5 speciality hospitals in Bangalore. Simultaneously, the Group is also managing Vivus Health Centre at Bangalore. The Group has on its rolls10 cardiologists, 5 cardiac surgeons and 10 registrars in cardiology.
During the Mahamasthakabhisheka celebrations, the Group will have a fully equipped ambulance at the base of Vindhyagiri hills acting as an ICU, a virtual hospital on wheels. The need for a state of the art cardiac care facility at Shravanabelagola during the celebrations is imperative with the number of persons with High blood pressure, diabetes and joint pains on the increase in Indian society. They can develop difficulty in breathing and the risks are high especially owing to the elevation of Vindhyagiri hills, says Dr.Ramesh.
Vivus Group will provide the cardiac facility both at the base and top of the Vindhyagiri hills during the celebrations. At the base, Vivus will provide the entire range of services, inclusive of an intensive care unit with emergency monitoring facilities such as ventilators, defibrillator, pacing, and emergency medications such as streptokinase and other drugs. The Group’s mobile cardiac catheterisition laboratory, first of its kind in Asia, wherein procedures such as angiogram, angioplasty can be done in a mobile set up will also be parked at the base inclusive of diagnostic facilities such as ECG, Echo-cardio gram and Angiography. The cardiac facility at the base
will have five beds with a specialist, an assistant, six nurses and other paramedical staff and technicians.
The Vivus cardiac facility at the base of the hills will operate round the clock. The specialists will take charge of the hospitals by January 18 and will be fully functional on January 21 and 22, in time for the visit of the President Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam for inauguration. After this, the facility will be on a standby mode and become fully operational again from February 1 to February 28.
The facility at the top of the hills will have two beds with monitors & defibrillator, oxygen and emergency medication. Stretchers fitted with portable monitors and oxygen with paramedics standing by will become operational from February 1 to February 28. The facility at the top will comprise one specialist, three nurses and two paramedics, operating from 5 pm to 9 pm every day.
The Group has also entered into arrangements with Government General Hospital and the CSI Hospital at Hassan for treatment facilities with only very serious patients being transported to the Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain Heart Centre at Bangalore. – Jain Heritage Centres News Service (JHCNS)