PESHAWAR: People continue to sustain injuries owing to festive firing and road accidents as about 1,000 patients landed in hospitals in addition to more than 30,000, who were treated for stomach problems due to overeating during Eid days, according to doctors.

The accidents and emergency department of Lady Reading Hospital, the biggest health facility of the province, received more than 15,000 patients, according to its spokesperson Mohammad Asim.

He said that 378 of them received in road accidents and 40 were wounded by firearms including stray bullet injuries.

He said that the trend continued due to rash driving by motorcyclists and firing in the air by people to show their joy over sighting of Eidul Fitr’s moon after a month of fasting.

Over 3,000 treated for stomach problems due to overeating

“As per record, 56 per cent of the patients were injured in road accidents. Majority of these mishaps could have been avoided had our people done some soul searching about rash driving and firing in the air on the celebratory occasion,” he said.

Mr Asim said that bulk of the injured people were sent home after giving them first aid while a few were hospitalised briefly for further investigations including X-rays and ultrasounds to diagnose major problems like bone fractures and head injuries. They received free of cost health services at the hospital, he said.

Situation in Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) and Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) was more or less the same where people with road accidents and firearm injuries were brought for management.

HMC received 142 people, who had met accidents, mostly on motorbikes, while 13 were injured by firearms in addition to routine patients visiting the hospital complaining about abdominal pain, vomiting or fever for overindulging in sweets, fizzy drinks and food.

The number of patients seeking treatment at KTH was 160, including 150 injured in road accidents and 10 wounded by firearms, during Eidul Fitr.

Medics at the hospitals said that cases of accidents and firearm injuries increased during Eidul Fitr and other festive occasions, especially Independence Day, when road remained full with vehicles and motorbikes. Some of the patients also underwent minor surgeries for indigestion and trauma, they added.

HMC director Dr Faisal Shehzad told Dawn that they supplied more medicines and surgical disposables to the accidents and emergency department on joyful occasions in order to ensure timely treatment of the affected people.

“People should avoid unnecessary use of motorbikes and speed to stay safe from tragedies,” he added.

Doctors in the three major hospitals of the provincial capital also complained of arrival of patients from other districts without referral that burdened the health facilities as such cases could be managed in district hospitals

effectively. Arrival of patients without referral put load on Peshawar-based hospitals, which were required to provide tertiary care to the highly complicated and chronically-ill people only, they added.

Physicians said that overeating during Eid also caused diarrhoea, dysentery and other stomach problems. They said that arrival of patients in the hospital without referral by their native health facilities was an issue that could be resolved because it had become a permanent problem for the tertiary hospitals in the provincial capital.

“Through effective emergency services, we can reduce mortality rate due to road accidents and firearm injuries,” they said.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2023