The non-availability of ventilators in District Hospital here is making doctors anxious amid coronavirus outbreak.
“We are anxious. Wemight find ourselves in a tight spot if we will get a COVID19 infected casewhich needs to be treated here. Without ventilator a patient can’t survive muchlonger,” said Dr Saleem Ahmad.
Bandipora district, as perofficial figures, has a population of over four lakhs. In absence of basicmedical equipment, the doctors are forced to refer all coronavirus infectedcases to SKIMS.
“We are not in a positionto handle COVID19 patients. However, if there is a rapid rise in coronainfected patients, in absence of this crucial medical equipment, it will be aprecarious situation for us” said Dr Muzaffar Ahmad.
He said there was a direneed of ventilators to stop unnecessary referrals amidst COVID19 pandemic. Thedoctors described dearth of Intensive Care Unit set-up as “long and chronicproblem.”
“We have been requestingfor procurement of ventilators for quite some time now, but our requests seemto fall on deaf ears,” said Dr Ahmad.
He said it was “now ornever”, given Bandipora was one of the worst hit districts in terms ofhealthcare facilities in Kashmir.
Block Medical OfficerBandipora, Dr Asif Khan refused to speak on the issue. “It is not in my domainand you better talk to the CMO,” he said.
The Chief Medical Officer,Dr Tajamul did not respond to repeated calls from this reporter for his commenton the issue.