Hospitals in the Kashmir Valley are working in a state of emergency as the number of injured in the four-day street violence has shot up to 1,365 officially, with numbers dramatically going up with each passing day.
To meet any eventuality in district hospitals and peripheries, where violent street protests continue in the wake of militant Burhan Wani’s killing, an emergency drive has been started by the Directorate of Health Services, Kashmir, to collect blood.
A total of 250 units of blood were collected in a two-day drive in north and south Kashmir, which remain the epicentre of fresh violence.
“Volunteers are donating blood at various peripheral hospitals on a daily basis,” said an official spokesman of the Health department. Saleem-ur-Rehman, Director, Health, on Tuesday directed hospital administrators that blood units “should be sent to tertiary care hospitals for patients in dire need.”
The Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS) in Srinagar offers a grim picture of the situation.
With around 340 protesters, who have sustained bullet and pellet injuries, admitted to the hospital, SMHS head Qaisar Ahmad said, “We have conducted around 340 surgeries in the past three days.”
Fifteen more injured were admitted to the SMHS on Tuesday as fresh violence erupted in south and north Kashmir. Many doctors on emergency duty are working way beyond their duty hours to attend to the rush.
All hospitals have cancelled leave of the doctors and paramedical staff. Those doctors who are unable to reach the hospitals because of the stone-pelting were asked to join nearby health centres.
Netizens have set up groups on social media to counter any medical emergency. The issues of blood requirement and medicine non-availability are flagged round the clock by those who have access to the Internet, otherwise down for the past four days.
Published - July 13, 2016 12:33 am IST
