After seeing the dire Covid crisis in the country I asked myself a question. How can I use this YouTube channel or website to help people as much as possible? What will be the best way? This is the answer to that question.
Today, hospitals across the country are facing a lack of hospital beds, oxygen, and ventilators. So you have to be prepared for this worst-case scenario that if someone in your family or your friends gets Covid-19 the chances are that they will not get a hospital bed. In such cases, you will have to keep them at home and treat them. In this video, I will try to explain the home treatment of Covid-19 step-by-step.
In the worst-case scenario if you cannot get a hospital bed or a doctor to consult. Obviously, I am not a doctor and I have not studied medicine. So, for this video, I especially consulted a team of professional doctors. Who told me the guidelines step-by-step about what can be done, to treat Covid-29 at home. I’d like to tell you the things that they explained to me in detail in today’s video. Firstly, there is WhatsApp forward that is very viral nowadays. It tells you that inhaling camphor, carom seeds and clove will help in boosting your oxygen levels. And that it will help in treating Covid-19. This is completely fake news. It will not help you in any way. So please, do not try any information given in a WhatsApp forward. It can instead harm your health.
Now that we’ve understood this, let’s see the scientifically proven techniques, that actually help in treating Covid-19. If there is a victim of Covid-19 in your home, first, isolate them. After isolating them,it’s important to monitor them as well. You would need monitoring equipment here. Which equipment? First is a pulse oximeter. This is a small device that goes on the finger. It costs around a few thousand rupees. It measures oxygen saturation. Apart from this, a thermometer to measure the temperature. Gloves, for the person who will care for the Covid-19 victim. Masks for everyone to wear. Garbage disposal bags, hand sanitizers, and, if possible, a separate toilet for the patient of Covid-19. The room where the Covid-19 patient would stay, keep the fans on and windows open.
Ventilation is very important. All this is done so that the infection is not spread among others. The thermometer and pulse oximeter will be the two main monitoring devices that will help in monitoring the Covid-19 patient. Whenever you use them, do not forget to wipe them with a cloth. So that their reading is always accurate. Create a simple table to record the data on a computer in Excel. Or you can even draw it on paper. Measure three things every 6 hours.
Oxygen saturation, pulse,and the temperature from the thermometer. First, measure the oxygen saturation while sitting. And then after exercising for 1 minute. Sit and stand for 1 minute and then measure. If the oxygen saturation in the patient is more than 94%, then there’s nothing to worry about. It is normal and there is no need for hospitalization. If the oxygen saturation is between 92-94%, then start measuring it every 4 hours. And if it falls below 92%, I will tell you what to do in the next step. On the other hand, you have to measure the temperature every 6 hours as well. If there is a fever, you have to give Paracetamol. 1 gram of Paracetamol every 6 to 8 hours. Depending upon the fever.
In this situation,the hydration of the patient is very important. So ensure that the patient is drinking sufficient water. In this situation, to help the patient, inhaled steroids like Budesonide can also be given. Twice daily at the dose of 800 MCG. This steroid often comes in aerosol packaging. And a spacer is needed to inhale them. A spacer looks like this. It is used for asthma. The next scenario is that the oxygen saturation falls below 92%. In this case, if a hospital bed is available, the patient should be admitted to the hospital. The medicines and steroids that the patient should get in this case are these: Any one of these can be administered. And it does not matter how the steroid is prepared. At night when the patient goes to sleep, ask them to sleep in the prone position. That is to sleep on their stomach. Like this. This is a very simple and scientifically proven technique of increasing oxygen saturation. See the oxygen saturation level when I was sitting. It was 95 and below 95. As soon as I lie down in the prone posture, it’s currently 93 and I start deep breathing. Just observe how it changes. Rapidly. Prone and breathing.
See how it moved from 93-94 level to 99 in just about 1 minute pronal deep breathing. Apart from this, in this scenario, again use Paracetamol for fever. Maintain sufficient hydration. And make passive leg movements of the patient. That is, take the legs and move them and keep them in different positions like this so that their blood circulation remains good. So that the circulation is not affected because of lying in the bed for a long period. In this scenario, friends, you will also need to supplement oxygen at home. So try to arrange oxygen from somewhere. You can also use a nasal cannula. This is a tube-like device that goes into the nose. It helps the oxygen to flow from the oxygen cylinder to the body of the patient.
Maintain a flow rate of 2-4 litres per minute. Start at a lower rate and scale up to 6 litres per minute if required. As long as the oxygen saturation of the patient remains above 92%. Obviously, when the oxygen saturation in the patient would increase, they would not feel breathlessnessand their respiratory rate that is the number of times they’re breathing per minute would go below 24 per minute. So you can say that the patient has started to improve. The patient’s health has started to improve. But if this does not happen and the oxygen saturation falls below 90%. In this case, if you can get a hospital bed, it’ll be good. Because it will be very important to move into a hospital bed. But if there are no hospital beds available, Then continue the same treatment as home. Keep giving the drugs in the same quantity that I mentioned before. The oxygen flow rate can be scaled up in this case from 6 litres per minute to 10 litres per minute. If the oxygen saturation remains below 90%, keep administering steroids and maintain a prone position during the whole time.
The improvement in the patient will come only when the oxygen saturation goes above 92%. Additionally, the patient will be able to breathe easily. They will not feel breathless. And the respiratory rate will be less than 24 breaths per minute. I will like to give a list of some drugs and steroids that should NOT be used. People considered them useful at some time. But the research papers published later had stated that they are not useful. I talked about Remdesivir in the last video. It is for very specific use cases. Till now, any scientific research has not been able to prove that for sure this helps in reducing mortality against Covid-19. It will not reduce the chances of your dying simply by taking it.
Some researchers have said that Remdesivir may help in reducing the duration of illnesses if it is given at the correct time. All the hype for this drug, the shortage and the black marketing in reality, this drug is almost useless. But the other steroids that I told you about, they’re actually helping in the treatment.
The steps of home treatment that I told you about, it is advisable if it’s possible for you, to get an initial assessment done of the patient at the very least from a hospital or clinic by a doctor. So that the doctor gets to know about the pre-existing conditions of the patient. And the precautions that would be required. Because what happens at times when something is recommended, like the position of lying on the stomach, if someone is pregnant, obviously, they should not do it. If someone has a problem with the spine, they should not do it. Every patient is different. There are slight changes in the treatment based on the existing problems. Which can be recommended by a doctor only. This is why it is advisable to get an initial assessment. If that is not possible, then take oversight of a doctor or a nurse through a phone call or video call. It will also be good. Apart from this, keep practising sanitizing, physical distancing and masking. Especially if there is a Covid-19 patient in your home. And promote vaccination. One thing that I will like to tell you is that vaccination is for preventionit is not a cure. The vaccine is not a medicine that if you get Covid-19 it will cure you. It is not a procedure of treatment. If you have the symptoms of Covid-19, you should not take the vaccine.
Wait till the symptoms go away and take the vaccine after that. Because by taking a vaccine you are basically training your immune system for fighting against the disease. But if your immune system is already under stress because you already have the disease, What will the training do? When you’re already infected. The training will then be useless and it won’t help you. Another thing is that because it takes some time for the training, be extra cautious after taking the vaccine. Practice extra social distancing, hand washing and sanitizing. Because immediately after taking the vaccine, if you get the disease it will be very difficult for your body. Because it will be a training for your immune system and the actual disease comes in as well. There is an added stress on the immune system.
I hope, friends, that this article will be helpful when needed. Save this article. And share it with your friends, family and relatives. So that everyone is prepared for the worst-case scenario. If even one person’s life is saved by this article, I will consider it successful. Thank you.