COVID Home Treatment | Oxygen Procedure

Today, hospitals across the world 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 article, 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.
I am not a doctor and I have not studied medicine.So, for this article, I especially consulted a team of professional doctors.Who told me the guidelines step-by-step about what can be done,to treat Covid-19 at home.I'd like to tell you the things that they explained to me in detail in today's article.

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 help in treating Covid-19.If there is a victim of Covid-19 in your homefirst, isolate them.After isolating 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.

COVID Home Treatment | Oxygen Procedure |Sohail Khan

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 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

COVID Home Treatment | Oxygen Procedure |Sohail Khan

.
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.

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 liters per minute.
Start at a lower rate and scale up to 6 liters per minute if required.
As long as the oxygen saturation of the patient remains above 92%.
When the oxygen saturation in the patient would increase,
they would not feel breathlessness and 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 liters per minute to 10 liters 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 article.
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 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 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 practicing sanitizing, physical distancing, and masking.