Health Deptt constitutes committee to probe Muddasir Ali’s death

A week after Greater Kashmir senior editor Muddasir Ali died enroute Srinagar hospital, Health Services Kashmir constituted a committee to probe whether life-saving emergency treatment was provided at the sub-district hospital Chrar-e-Sharif where he had reported.

A three-member committee headed by Deputy Director Health, Kashmir (Schemes) Dr Abdul Rashid Najar has been assigned the responsibility of investigating the sequence of events before Muddasir was declared brought dead at SMHS Hospital on November 20.

   

Director Health Services, Kashmir, DrSumirMattoo said the committee had been directed to submit a detailed report within three days. “A cardiologist, a physician and an administrator from our department will carry out a detailed probe into the provision of emergency treatment to the patient who had reported at the health facility and later died,” he said.

Muddasir’s family has alleged that the on-duty doctor was not available immediately and when he saw the patient, he delayed the provision of treatment. “Instead of treating the chest pain of my brother as an emergency and intervening then and there, the doctor directed us to take him to the ward,” Jehangir Ali, the younger brother of Muddasir Ali told Greater Kashmir.

Jehangir said the doctor told him that Muddasir had a heart attack but did not act fast as the emergency demanded. “We were made to walk my brother to the ward upstairs when he was already in respiratory distress. He was asking for oxygen but he had to climb stairs instead,” Jehangir said.

He said the doctor did not carry out Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) as per the emergency protocol and also delayed taking the ECG of the patient. “The first ECG was taken after my brother collapsed at the hospital. He was talking, although in distress, when the doctor saw him first,” the brother said. He said he wanted an answer as to why instead of providing a life-saving intervention at the hospital which was less than 5 minutes drive from their home, they were sent to a hospital which was almost an hour away. “Didn’t the doctor realise that his golden hour will be lost?” Committee Head, DrNajar said Block Medical Officer (BMO) Chrar-e-Sharif had submitted before the directorate that the on-duty doctor provided immediate emergency treatment before referring Muddasir to SMHS Hospital. “We are corroborating the facts with the attendants and also collecting other evidence,” he said.

BMO, DrMastoora said, “The patient had suffered a massive heart attack that needed specialist cardiac treatment which was not available at SDH Chrar-e-Sharief and necessitated referral.”

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