Govt puts KP hospitals on high alert
By Mushtaq Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: In the wake of escalating tensions between Pakistan and India, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has put all public and private hospitals on high alert and directed them to reserve 25 percent beds for ‘national cause’, a soft term used to handle mass casualties in case of any eventuality.
“We put all hospitals in the province on high alert due to present situation on the border with India and issued directives to all heads of the hospitals to be prepared for any sort of emergency,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Secretary Health Dr Farooq Jameel told The News on Tuesday.
He said all Medical and Teaching Institutions (MTIs), tertiary care hospitals and divisional headquarters health facilities had been put on alert for ‘national cause.’
According to sources, the federal government, after the National Security Council meeting on February 21 with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair, had directed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government in KP for making some emergency preparations in hospitals.
“The National Security Council evaluated security situation in the country and particularly the ongoing tension with India. And then the federal government had directed the KP government that it must have some preparations in hospitals to handle mass emergency in case of any eventuality,” said a government official.
Pleading anonymity, he said the provincial government immediately approached the Health Department and conveyed it to be prepared for any emergency situation.
Health Minister Dr Hisham Inamullah Khan also confirmed to have issued directives for putting all the health facilities of 250-bed and above on high alert due to ongoing tensions with India and particularly after airstrikes by the Indian Air Force in Balakot early Tuesday.
Dr Farooq Jameel said the directives were meant for public and private sector hospitals.
He said the doctors and other health staff had been directed to remain present at their respective health centers so that they can reach hospitals easily in case of emergency. “Peace is very much important for all of us but brave and responsible nations always make preparations for rainy days. There is no need to panic but we must be prepared,” said the Health secretary.
According to him, they obtained data of bed strength of all the hospitals in KP and from Tuesday, they have been directed to reserve 25 percent of their beds for emergency situation.
He said the hospitals’ heads have been directed to ensure availability of their ambulances along with other services required for handling trauma.
“We wanted all the hospitals to have adequate services for emergency situation. They have been directed to have enough stock of medicines available in their respective hospitals. The government would definitely provide additional funds, if needed, for procurement of medicines and other items in case of emergency,” said Dr Farooq Jameel.
Most of the hospitals in KP had developed emergency departments and despite meager resources, they better handled a number of mass casualties. There can hardly be a hospital in KP and the erstwhile Fata where they didn’t cope with mass emergency in the last two decades of militancy.
The three tertiary care hospitals in Peshawar including Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), handled dozens of traumas in the wake of suicide bombing, bomb blasts and drone strikes and the terrorist attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar.
Most of the doctors and health workers in KP often complain that the federal government never recognised their services and hard work during the militancy.
The LRH, being the oldest and largest health facility of the province, is the lone hospital with having a massive emergency and trauma department.
