The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) is one of the premier medical institutions in the country, and as a doctor it is both shocking and embarrassing that even medical personnel working at the hospital find it difficult to do their job due to a lack of proper equipment and facilities.

Pims is a tertiary care hospital, meaning that it should have a full complement of services. However, I have witnessed cases where patients have had to face massive delays for something as rudimentary and important as a respirator because the Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) – a device that attaches to a patient’s face and allows them to breathe normally – is not available.

Patients with lung conditions, such as chronic smokers, often require assistance in breathing. However, because the hospital does not even have one BiPAP machine, all such patients are referred to the ventilator, which is meant to be used by patients who cannot breathe on their own at all.

Because the ventilator is in high demand at all times and is a life-saving machine, patients who require breathing assistance rarely get to use it and doctors at the hospital are forced to refer their patients elsewhere.

Recently, a patient had to be referred to Benazir Bhutto Hospital in Rawalpindi because of the unavailability of a BiPAP, even though Pims is supposed to be the most well-equipped hospital in the twin cities.

A BiPAP costs a mere Rs500,000 and ventilators are far more expensive, so it is unfathomable why the authorities refuse to purchase the cheaper BiPAP and persist with overusing the ventilator.

Dawn’s ‘Eye-Witness Account’ segment features accounts of individuals who have experienced adversity or have been affected by a miscarriage of justice. All accounts are verified as far as possible by Dawn’s editorial team. Readers are encouraged to send in accounts of similar incidents that may have befallen them, so that attention can be called to such problems and they can be addressed with due debate in the public eye. Readers can send their accounts to re.isb@dawn.com.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2015

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