KARACHI, Oct 13: The Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation has sent another medical mission, along with machines and equipment to establish its third centre in Muzaffarabad for quake victims.
A SIUT communication said that on Thursday, a third team comprising with dialysis machines and laboratory equipment left Karachi by a PAF plane for the affected areas. The centre would become operative by Friday, it added.
Earlier, SIUT had set up two centres at the Ayub Medical College, Abbotabad and DHQ Hospital, Mansehra, on October 10 and October 12, respectively. A total of 40 senior doctors, surgeons and paramedics, along with 10 dialysis machines, laboratory equipment and adequate quantity of life-saving drugs have been sent to provide medical assistance those injured in the earthquake.
BASE CAMP: In the backdrop of the fact that crush injury sustained in natural calamities leads to fatalities, surgeons and nephrologists of the SIUT at their base camp at Ayub Medical College, Abbotabad, have managed many of the injured to survive severe conditions, adds APP.
Dr Fatema Jawad of SIUT, told APP here on Thursday that in a scenario where people could be witnessed lying under heavy masonry, it was common for victims to get their muscles damaged which could release blood and proteins that would turn on entering the kidneys blocking them ultimately causing renal failure.
“It is this acute phase when emergency dialysis is necessary to save life,” she said, mentioning that the highly specialized unit of SIUT is working round the clock to save lives under the supervision of Prof Adibul Hasan Rizvi, Director of SIUT.
Those saved included people of all age groups and belonging to different quake-hit areas, she said.
She referred to the case of a 17-year-old student of Geology at the Muzaffarabad University who was in a hostel which collapsed in the quake. He had remained under the rubble for more than six hours and suffered serious injuries in his legs and abdomen. “His kidneys had stopped working but he was successfully dialyzed. He is safe now,” said Dr Fatema Jawad.
Similarly, one Manazir, a 26-year old baker, remained trapped for 12 hours under a beam and rubble of a three-storey building. The beam had to be cut to take him out. He had sustained crush injuries and fracture in legs but after dialysis and medical treatment, he was now doing well, she added.
Many casualties were coming in but these two major ones were treated within 24 hours of the arrival of the SIUT team, she added.
