The school has a 24 bed hospital including an Emergency ward and an Isolation ward. There is a dedicated staff of 12 employees including a full time resident Doctor, a trained staff nurse and two qualified nursing assistants.

A physiotherapist visits the hospital daily for two hours during games time. Facilities for nursing of common routine ailments and accidents are available 24*7. The school ambulance transports boys during emergencies and is also used for the conveyance of boys to specialists. The hospital has some modern medical equipment like multiparameter, defibrillator, oxygenerator and modern physiotherapy equipment like short wave diathermy, ultrasound therapy and tens machines. Soothing music is played on the world space receiver in all wards and work areas.

An elaborate medical examination is done for all the boys at the beginning and end of every term that includes height, weight, BMI, BP, waist, chest and FEV (lung capacity). Deworming is done for all the boys under direct supervision at the beginning of every term. Parents are advised to get the eye, dental, skin and haemoglobin tests done prior to the start of every term. These reports are then submited to the school. Boys using spectacles are to keep two pairs with them.
Each and every aspect relating to health is meticulously entered in the uniquely designed ‘medical record’ book assigned to every boy. These include allergies, blood group, emergency numbers/emails, vaccination dates, term medical examination details, details of every hospital visit and treatment/lab report, ophthamlogical reports, orthodontic treatment details etc. It is not unusual for boys to ask for ‘copy’ of this book at the time of leaving school.
At the end of every term a detailed health report is sent to the parents with details of all medical matters pertaining to the boy during the term. It also includes advice especially to the ‘overweight’ boys regarding ill effects of being overweight and reminding them about the ill effects of junk food and promotion of fruits and fresh vegetables.
The school hospital smoothly handles the routine outbreaks of conjunctivitis and viral fevers which are not uncommon in any boarding school. The doctor also keeps sending advisories regarding health matters to all concerned departments and through the ‘weekly’ especially on outbreaks of communicable diseases in the school as well as in other boarding schools.

Panel specialists

The best specialists of Dehradun are on the panel of the school that is also reviewed on an annual basis. They attend to the school boys on ‘priority’ with minimal time loss. The dentists on panel also communicate with the treating dentists at a boy's home town, if required. At the time of joining, all the parents are to execute an indemnity bond authorizing the school doctor and the panel of specialists to look after their son in all matters relating to health.

The school is very particular in vaccinating the children against Hepatitis A & B, Typhoid, Chickenpox and Tetanus/TDaP without any exception. All the boys at the time of joining are to submit a certificate from their paediatrician regarding dates of vaccinations. The school vaccinates all children on the due dates.

The school also permits two ‘orthodontic’ outings per term for boys on dental braces in lieu of two night outings.

The school doctor is also responsible for imparting First Aid training to the boys which is at times outsourced to external accredited agencies from foreign safety councils, who train the boys on a regular basis and award certificates to those who clear their tests. This training has proved useful many a time during the ‘mid term’ breaks and also during the regular school activities. The inter house First Aid competition is a seriously contested event during the year.

The atmosphere in the hospital is an informal and caring one for the inpatients, at the same time firm and strict for those trying to skip ‘change in break’ or just trying to catch up with their lost sleep due to some assignment. It is not unusual for the Doctor to question the boys on Mondays if they had been on an outing the previous day or if they were having a ‘change’ that day. The doctor and nursing staff have all their meals with the patients and are often seen ‘spoon feeding’ some of the younger boys. The staff nurse also practices her ‘jaadu ki jhappis’ on the more homesick and forlorn of the boys with immediate results!

 

Vital doses of jokes, pranks, camaraderie and bonding help overcome the bout of ‘flu or conjunctivitis perhaps as much as the medication. For the escapist, who conveniently falls ill during test week, arrangements are made to conduct the test in the 'hospi' if the doctor deems it fit!

 

The doctor can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it