THE death of senior medical practitioner Dr Furqanul Haq in Karachi a few days ago has raised serious questions about the state of preparedness of the health system in Sindh, and its ability to handle patients in case of medical emergencies on a mass scale.

Of particular concern was the claim made by an office-bearer of the Pakistan Medical Association that no ventilator was available at any of the hospitals the medic was taken to.

Some of these questions appear to have been answered by a special inquiry committee tasked by the Sindh government to look into the incident.

The committee released its report on Wednesday.

However, the findings have raised some new concerns, which the authorities in the province would do well to address.

According to the inquiry committee, “misjudgement” on part of a medical officer at Karachi’s Civil Hospital was the cause of Dr Furqan’s death, as the doctor on duty showed “negligence” in not admitting the patient to the facility when beds were available in the ICU.

Sindh government officials had already said there was no shortage of ventilators in the province.

Perhaps the key lesson to be learnt from this tragedy is that the Sindh health authorities — and indeed health officials across the country — need to develop best practices and SOPs to deal with emergency cases in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Doctors and paramedics are on the front line in the battle against the coronavirus, and are under tremendous stress.

To avoid poor judgement on the part of overburdened doctors and nurses, there should be clear-cut SOPs for all first responders and medical professionals to follow in cases of emergency, which should be communicated to all public and private health facilities.

Moreover, despite official claims that there are enough ventilators in the province, now is a good time to take stock of the medical equipment available to private and public-sector hospitals, especially as coronavirus cases are on the rise.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2020