KARACHI, May 20: The concerned Karachiites, acknowledging urgency of the completion of Emergency Operation Theatre (EOT) at Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and availability of funds for the same, have called for efforts to adopt ‘Trauma’ as a specialized field of medical training in the country.

They were expressing their views in a discussion at the Emergency Department of JPMC which was held to review the current status of the EOT project and to approve establishment of a charitable organization ‘Accident and Emergency Foundation’.

The participants underscored the need for evolving an efficient ambulance service in the city.

They observed that Karachi was among the cities registering highest rate of road accidents and untoward incidents leading to casualties and trauma. Thus, they said, due attention should be paid to the provision of well-equipped ambulances and availability of specialist staff to ensure on the spot treatment.

They stressed on the need for proper training to the health care providers handling trauma cases.

Prof Hasan Aziz, a seasoned neurologist and the moving spirit behind the JPMC’s EOT project, while speaking on the occasion reminded that no less than 20-25 cases were reported at the hospital’s emergency ward every day with victims in critical condition and many of them requiring urgent surgery. Such patients, he pointed out, had to be taken to the first floor of main building, often under difficult conditions, to bring them to the operation theatre.

The JPMC, like most of the public sector hospitals, is faced with serious financial constraints. Amid a massive turn out of patients, it has to provide emergency medical assistance but could not spare more than Rs40 for dressing of each of the patients in the Emergency Section and more than Rs1,000 to Rs4,000 for surgery cases.

“Local philanthropists at this point, too, helped JPMC in arranging for vital drugs and disposables,” Prof Aziz said.

He appreciated the selfless service offered by doctors and paramedics serving at the Emergency and Casualty Department round the clock, reminding that the junior doctors, despite being offered a remuneration lesser than what was being offered to cooks and drivers, did not fail in fulfilling their responsibilities.—APP