Srinagar, Dec 3: Broken wheel chairs, worn-out stretchers and a persistent stink in the 18-bed Accident and Emergency Department of SKIMS Medical College Hospital at Bemina here seriously dent the institute’s image as one of the prime hospitals of the Valley.
The department is in a mess as it lacks life-saving equipments and drugs. Patients needing emergency care are frequently denied admission on grounds like lack of beds. “My son needed urgent treatment in his leg. Despite a trauma case, they did not admit him and asked us to go to SKIMS Soura. There was no proper communication and we were treated as undesirables,” complains one Ali Muhammad.
The inflow of patients to the emergency department is between 150 and 200 per day as the hospital is located on the highway. The department does not have an ICU and exclusive diagnostic laboratory resulting in delay of seven to eight hours to get the necessary tests done.
A doctor, wishing anonymity, said the lives of patients of Myocardial Infarction and poisoning cannot be saved as there is no proper ICU in the institute.
“We can’t start treatment unless we get investigation reports. Till then patients are given preliminary medication. Most of the cases are referred to other hospitals due to lack of life support equipments. They either die on way to other hospital or their condition worsens,” the doctor said.
He said the emergency department is without proper resuscitation equipments. “Most of the times we have to call Anesthesia people to resuscitate a critical person,” he said.
Ironically, the unit does not have ventilators and central resuscitation equipment that can monitor activity of the patient’s inner organs during critical condition. “We are forced to rely on outdated methods to judge the condition of patients,” the doctor said.
Attendants of patients frequently complain about dearth of nursing staff. “We seldom see nursing staff here. Doctors usually ask attendants to be with the patient,” says Muhammad Abbas, whose son, a trauma victim, was admitted to the emergency department.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 3 Dec 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 3 Dec 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 4 Dec 2012 00:00:00 IST