Our hands were tied, say OGH doctors

‘We were ready to work the whole night, but lacked in resources to save the blast victims’

March 07, 2013 11:12 pm | Updated June 13, 2016 10:33 am IST

Clearly, the casualty wing of the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) was not prepared. When victims of Dilsukhangar bomb blasts were rushed in, the hospital did not lack in commitment of staff, but sorely missed in resources.

“We were ready to work the whole night but lacked in resources to save the blast victims. Senior doctors, striking class four employees, nurses, blood banks and EMRI employees and PG doctors rushed to the casualty to do their bit. But, we could not justify our presence because our hands were tied. The relatives realised it quickly and decided to shift the victims to private hospitals,” summed up a doctor at OGH.

The medicos posted in other wings rushed to the casualty at 7.30 p.m. and worked till 9.30 p.m. on February 21 when twin bomb blasts rocked Dilsukhnagar.

“The usual protocol is that after fixing IV lines, victims are moved to AMC and ASC for further treatment. But, both the units are closed for repairs since December. We could not use them and had to wait for a long time to search for alternatives. Temporary arrangements were made in the neurology wards to treat victims,” medicos said.

Tough time

The doctors also had tough time in ordering for quick laboratory tests and CT scans. “The CT scan machine was not working in the hospital for the past two months. The repairs were taken up recently. We do not have a 24-hour laboratory facility to test for blood group, haemoglobin levels, RFT kidney functioning test etc,” doctors said.

Several PG students pointed out the struggle in providing proper oxygen supply and identifying functional ventilators to the victims with serious injuries. For a while, there was shortage of hospital linen and cotton needed for dressing.

Within an hour, the hospital doctors said, the relatives started arriving to the casualty ward. “And in few hours of the blast, the government announced that it would foot the medical bills of the blast victims at private hospitals. The relatives started demanding that the victims immediately be discharged from OGH,” health workers recalled.

By the end of the night, close to 24 blast victims were referred to private hospitals from OGH and two victims were forcefully taken by anxious relatives to private hospitals without any referral.

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