This refers to the article “Tribute to Shaida” by Dr. A Wahid (GK March 7, 2010). The death of a reputed poet like Shafi Shaida, an important member of our civil society, is definitely painful. And equally painful is the way he was handled in SKIMS Emergency Ward. The doctors could not decide where to lodge such a patient who needed urgent care. He should have been immediately shifted to Intensive Care Unit rather than keeping him in General Emergency. It is shameful that he had to be carried on shoulders as there was no stretcher available. In general Emergency ward you don’t have facilities to treat failing lung or failing heart. Such facilities there are horribly non-existent. There should have been a separate Cardiac Care area in the Emergency itself where patients could receive preliminary treatment before shifting to Intensive Care Unit. Such preliminary treatment is given in ambulances itself but in our so-called prestigious SKIMS this treatment is not available even to admitted patients. This hospital is no Tertiary Care Centre. No doubt there a huge rush of patients in the emergency ward and wheel chairs remain always occupied. But an administrator can manage and organize facilities and it does not need crores of rupees. Shaida’s family was asked to buy a nebuliser. I don’t know which doctors are handling the emergency department. Time is the most important factor in dealing with emergency cases. Now you ask an attendant to go to the market to buy life saving drugs. Is this how you deal with dying patients? We spend crores of rupees on the institute and purchase sophisticated equipments. We should bow our heads in shame. If such a treatment is meted out to a VIP, what will be the fate of a common man? Needless to say that our bureaucrats, ministers and people who are affluent never prefer to get admitted in SKIMS. They go the hospitals in Delhi, Chandigarh, and other centers of the country for treatment. This is also because of the behaviour of our doctors. A good number of them are no doubt very efficient, but most of them even lack the ability to take a decision about a patient as happened in the Shaida’s case. Oh God, save us.
Yasir Shafi Mahajan
Illahi Bagh, Buchpora

Lastupdate on : Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00:00 IST