Hospitals put on alert

Rawalpindi
The district health department has issued directives to the administrations of all five tehsil headquarter hospitals to remain alert to deal with any emergency situation, particularly because of the continuous rain.
The orders were issued after the incident of collapse of a building due to continuous heavy rainfall in Wah Cantonment on Monday night which claimed eight lives and left four injured.
Almost all staff serving at the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Taxila, was called on duty in the night between Monday and Tuesday. However, the dead bodies and injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Rawalpindi, said District Health Officer Dr. Rafiq Ahmed while talking to ‘The News’ on Tuesday.
He said the dead bodies were shifted to the DHQ Hospital because there was no mortuary at the THQ Hospital in Taxila. “The collapse of the building convinced us to put THQ hospitals in Murree, Gujar Khan, Kotli Sattian and Kallar Syedan on alert ahead of any emergency due to rain,” he added. “The THQ Hospital in Taxila is already on red alert,” said Dr. Rafiq.
He said that all staff deputed at five THQ hospitals would remain on call till further orders. The continuous rainfall may cause road accidents as well and keeping this in mind the THQ hospitals have been asked to remain well-prepared to deal with emergency cases, he said.
He said the THQ hospitals have been asked to keep ambulances available so that in case of any emergency, the injured could be transported to teaching hospitals, including DHQ Hospital in Rawalpindi.
The THQ hospitals have been asked to arrange for sufficient quantity of lifesaving drugs at their emergency departments to deal with any emergency, said Dr. Rafiq while responding to a query.