Poor emergency response system at HMC

PESHAWAR: The administration of Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) is expected to learn from its shortcomings and failures that surfaced while handling the first-ever emergency on Friday.
Though the doctors, paramedics and nursing staff of the hospital provided the best available services to victims of the terrorist attack on the Jamia Masjid Imamia in Hayatabad, the hospital lacks proper mechanism and management skills to utilise services of the doctors in saving lives.
As the imambargah housing the mosque was close to the Hayatabad Medical Complex, the majority of the victims were shifted there for treatment.
After hearing the loud blast, most of the doctors reached the hospital and started handling the emergency.
“The senior doctors arrived an hour late, but the young doctors, including assistant professors, senior registrars, trainee medical officers and house officers played a heroic role,” said a young doctor who worked for five hours at a stretch at the casualty department.
The hospital administration apparently didn’t expect such an emergency as it had a 30-bed casualty and could not properly cope with the situation when around 60 victims of the blasts were brought there.
The Lady Reading Hospital is the only public sector hospital in the province where a state-of-the-art Accident and Emergency Department has been established. It has handled dozens of emergencies of bomb explosions and suicide attacks.
Though its construction has been delayed for many years, work is now underway on a comparatively large-size Accident and Emergency department at the HMC.
Keeping in mind the worsening security situation in KP and Fata, the government needs to expedite work on the A&E at the HMC and also equip it with modern and necessary equipment in accordance with future requirements.
The doctors and their supporting staff realised on Friday that there were many doctors and nurses at the casualty, but there was no proper management to utilise their services and save lives.
“We have lost thousands of people in hundreds of bomb explosions but we didn’t learn how to handle trauma. The hospital administration and the administrative staff are supposed to ensure availability of drugs and other items required for handling such traumas at the casualty. We had to bring drugs, cotton and bandages in trolleys to the casualty as there was no one to help us,” a doctor complained.
He said the ICU and casualty are always considered as the nose of any hospital, but in HMC both the facilities were in a shambles.
“Imagine the performance of hospital administration as an oxygen socket didn’t work at the casualty to provide oxygen to the injured,” he complained.
He said due to lack of beds at the casualty department, they had to treat the seriously wounded patients on stretchers.
“Around 400 people, including the doctors and ward orderlies were recruited during the past few months in HMC, but the hospital administration failed to ensure presence of the class-IV employees during the Friday emergency,” the doctor said.
Most of the injured and their relatives were though critical of the police and other law-enforcement agencies for arriving late at the spot, where according to the victims, the volunteers and members of the Shia community had already tackled the gunmen wearing explosive-laden suicide jackets.
“After the police arrived, we were asking them to surround the under-construction building from where the terrorists were firing at us. But they didn’t listen to us and thus some of the terrorists managed to escape after the attack,” said a 22-year old injured student of a private engineering university.
According to the eyewitness, there would have been more casualties had the gunmen succeeded in entering the main hall of the imambargah.
Some members of the Shia community risked their lives but saved many others, he stated.
“They overpowered one of the suicide bombers when he jumped down from the nearby building and started firing at the worshippers. The gunman was young and couldn’t resist when the worshippers approached him. He immediately blew himself up,” 71-year old Syed Wajid Hussain recalled.
Wajid Hussain belongs to Ustarzai village in Hangu district. He had come to Peshawar to see his relatives.
He was admitted to the orthopedic ward of the hospital for leg injuries. The white shalwar of the elderly man was stained with blood.
“If they don’t want us to go to masjid then where should we go,” Wajid Hussain innocently questioned.