Author: Kaptan Mali
Publication: Afternoon Despatch & Courier
Date: July 17, 2006
Introduction: With blasts at nearby Matunga
and Mahim, Sion Hospital was flooded with maximum number of patients being
brought in and it did not let them down
Their efforts have been lauded by the Prime
Minister of the country. "Splendid Job", is what Dr Manmohan Singh
had to say to the medical fraternity at Sion Hospital (LTMG) and KEM Hospitals
which he visited when he was in the city last week.
As the injured were wheeled into hospitals,
doctors and paramedics got into the act of saving lives. Treating blast victims
was indeed a challenging task as they were totally different from the other
lot of patients on receives on a usual day.
At least a couple of blasts happened within
the vicinity of Sion Hospital, bringing an influx of patients there. And indeed,
the medical fraternity responded with alacrity and efficiency to the call
which came in so very unexpectedly, despite the limited facilities available
to them.
"It was around 6.50 pm that we got a
message that a bomb explosion had taken place. And we realized that we had
to be prepared. With no TV set in hospital, I called home and confirmed the
news. Soon, I called surgeons and doctors to come to the hospital. Within
30 minutes, around 30 doctors were present and later in the next 30 minutes
we had another 20 doctors," said Dr M E Yeolekar, Dean of Sion Hospital.
In a jiffy, logistics took importance as we
had to mobilise patients, equipment and consumables on a war-footing. For
three days and nights at a stretch, Sion Hospital doctors and other staff
worked for patients.
Not only was care of injured patients important
but identifying bodies was also a major problem and other procedures were
important. "At the entrance itself, we checked the dead and transferred
bodies to the morgue," said Dr Yeolekar.
Also, we received commendable support from
NGOs and locals who helped patients and their relatives by providing basic
help to relatives of the deceased and injured. And of course, they extend
invaluable moral support to relatives of patients and the deceased too.
Blast injury cases
In normal cases, a-person gets injuries only on a single part of the body
and its easy to provide treatment. But in an explosion an injured person receives
multiple intensive injuries as shrapnel pierces the flesh and enters the body
which could prove fatal.
The foreign particles are removed from the
body and affect soft body tissue. So the victim is provided treatments for
fractures and minor surgeries. At this time, it is necessary to decide what
type of surgical intervention a patient requires.
Such victims require immediate treatment as
their blood pressure level drops due to continuous brooding. They also have
hearing and psychological problems also so we had to treat them for that.
Criteria used for treatment
With a steady influx of injured persons and pressure from relatives at Sion
Hospital on the day of blast, it was difficult to provide treatment to all
of them immediately as all were in a serious condition. We had to be quick
in deciding what kind of treatment be administered to which patient. It was
difficult for hospital staff to differentiate between 'serious' and 'very
serious' cases. The injured who appeared weak, exhausted, collapsing and unconscious
were treated on a priority basis.
Politicians' visits
Dr. Yeolekar, Dean of Sion Hospital said, "Visit of ministers and politicians
is necessary as patients feel the soothing touch from these ministers but
it should be limited and controlled as it disturbs our working. If these ministers
do not visit hospitals public will curse them for not being bothered about
them."
In an emergency
Sion Hospital has learnt that in future, for such emergency, there must be
* A computerised fast entry of injured
* Elevated communication facility
* Centralised view of overall treatment by a competent authority as some hospitals
become overcrowded and some remain idle at such a time
* Proper look at mobilisation of injured
* Better coordination between all supportive agencies
But why post mortem?
Disturbed relatives complained that doctors should not have conducted post
mortems as the reason for death of blast victims was known.
But Dr Yeolekar says due to post mortem, relatives
get summary of the dead which helps relatives claim compensation and helps
in related medico-legal aspects.
