On April 1, TK Shahjahan, chairman of Alangad block panchayat in Ernakulam district of Kerala and a CPI(M) member, had called up Dr Ganesh Mohan, resident medical officer of the Government Medical College in the district, to ask if the hospital staff required any essentials. During the casual conversation between the two, Dr Ganesh Mohan sent Shahjahan a picture of a COVID-19 sample collection kiosk that was being widely used in South Korea.
Five days later, Shahjahan and a group of friends, taking directions from experts including Dr Ganesh, made a replication of the kiosk at his home in Edayar. Two such kiosks, named Walk-in Sample Kiosks (WISK), were soon donated to the Ernakulam Government Medical College. Since then, Shahjahan has become a busy man, what with hospitals and officials from other states contacting him, requesting to make similar kiosks for them.
Two days ago, Shahjahan dispatched 18 such kiosks to various hospitals in Tamil Nadu.
"Health officials, including Dr Ganesh, gave us the necessary directions while work of the kiosk was underway," adds Shahjahan.
WISK, which is a glass cabin, allows the medical staff in the kiosk to collect throat swabs of people standing just outside the kiosk. It will ensure that the medical staff collecting the samples will not get exposed to the infection. These kiosks also reduce the medical staff’s dependence on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, which are vital when treating COVID-19 patients.
“Hospitals from even Pune and Hyderabad are contacting asking to make such kiosks. But what is difficult now is to get the necessary raw materials to make the kiosks,” Shahjahan told TNM.
TK Shahjahan
Stating that he does not want to turn it into a business, Shahjahan said, “So, I have been sending the design and sketch of the kiosk, so that it could be made locally.”
According to Shahjahan, the demand for WISK is increasing as it can be easily made locally without much technical expertise. “The only important point to be noted is that it should be an airtight cubicle. It costs around Rs 35,000 only to make one such kiosk,” he explained.
Dr Padma of the Gandhi Hospital, a COVID-19 nodal facility at Secunderabad in Telangana, was one of them who contacted Shahjahan after seeing news about the kiosks. After contacting Shahjahan, the hospital created its own sample collection kiosk with the help of a local engineer.
Meanwhile, in Kerala’s Palakkad, Kooper Medical Technology, which manufactures medical device and equipment, donated one such kiosk free of cost to the General hospital in the district. This kiosk, called Suraksha Booth, is based on the South Korean model but with some retrofitted with extra features.
For example, the company connected a communication device to the kiosk, so that medical staff and people sitting outside can communicate effectively.
"The booth is an airtight facility, so it will be uncomfortable for the staff standing inside for long hours. To tackle it, we have also provided an air circulation system that is fixed with an antiviral filter, to ensure there is no contamination," said K Vijay, Managing Director of Kooper Medical Technology.
A similar kiosk has also been installed at the Tirupur Government Hospital in Tamil Nadu with the help of Indian Medical Association (IMA).
"This is an important safety measure in our fight against COVID-19. This will help prevention of infection especially among the doctors and paramedical staff who are in the frontline," said Dr Hemlata, Head of the ENT department of the Palakkad General Hospital.
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