Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 18: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today said the peripheral hospitals in Kashmir are far behind when it comes to emergency care and trauma patients continue to die unabated because they do not get treatment in time.
The DAK president, Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan said the hospitals in peripheries fail to deliver in emergencies, at a time, when their services are needed most. “These hospitals have become referral points for shifting critically ill patients in whatever condition to tertiary care, without even trying what is possible and necessary,” he said.
He said that the people during emergencies rush to these hospitals with a hope to get immediate attention but to their surprise they are transferred in critical condition to tertiary care only to die on way.
“Why have these hospitals been opened, if they do not provide emergency care? While bullet injury continues to be the single most mechanism of injury death, rural hospitals are unable to deal with such cases. Lack of emergency and trauma care in peripheral setting is responsible for these deaths which otherwise could have been prevented,” he said.
On Wednesday, bullet hit persons were rushed to Kupwara hospital, where because of lack of facilities, they were shifted to Srinagar, he said, adding that a day before, Handwara victims who were shifted to tertiary care died in transit.
“Last year, three year old Burhan Bashir died because of lack of trauma facilities in Sopore. Bilal Bhat of Pulwama, a month before, met a similar fate when he was referred to Srinagar because of lack of emergency care in the area and died on way. Lives of such patients can be saved with timely intervention,” Dr Nisar said, adding that time makes the difference between life and death of a trauma patient.
The main reason for the absence of facilities and staff in peripheries is lack of organization in health care planning and policy rather than resource restriction, he said. “Concentration of facilities and manpower in city hospitals and scarcity in rural setting is jeopardizing the lives of emergency and trauma patients in rural areas,” the DAK president added.
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