Like other segments of society, doctors community is keen to devote all its energies for rehabilitation of earthquake victims, and several teams of doctors from different teaching hospitals have already left for calamity-hit areas in Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas to provide medical assistance to the victims.
Teams of surgeons and doctors have reached Azad Kashmir, while fresh teams of doctors are also in readiness. The administrations of different teaching hospitals have completed necessary arrangements to provide medical facilities to earthquake victims, who are all set to be airlifted to Lahore from different quake-hit areas. Different teaching hospitals in the provincial metropolis have reserved over 1500 beds for the purpose with sufficient availability of medicines. In order to accommodate expected quake victims, patients facing minor illnesses were discharged from different city hospitals on Tuesday.
Although, a few quake victims were brought to different city hospitals on Monday night, but regular airlifting of seriously injured persons has not been started till filing of this report.
The Principal of King Edward Medical College (KEMC)/Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Professor Dr Akbar Chaudhry told Business Recorder they had reserved 350 beds for quake victims but so far not a single injured person had so far been air-lifted to his hospital. 'We have completed necessary arrangements and are in touch with authorities concerned for receiving the injured persons', he said, adding the teams had been constituted to receive the injured at the airport and other designated places. He further said hospital would provide medicines, surgical items and laboratory tests to quake victims free of cost.
He stated so far they had sent 15 doctors of the KEMC to Azad Kashmir with sufficient medicines and more teams of doctors were being sent with dry food and medicines. He said female doctors of KEMC were also keen to visit earthquake-hit areas to serve the injured persons.
Moreover, World Psychiatric Association (WPA) has asked the WPA Pakistan Chapter to send teams of psychiatrists at quake hit areas to treat the people facing trauma. A three-member team of senior psychiatrists comprising Professor Dr Haroon Rashid Chaudhry Head Department of Psychiatry FJMC, Professor Dr Aftab Asif and Professor Dr Amjad Chaudhry were leaving for Muzaffarabad to provide medical assistance to earthquake victims who were facing trauma.
Talking to this scribe, Professor Dr Haroon Rashid Chaudhry said Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which was a psychiatric disorder, would be common among the earthquake victims. 'People who suffer from PTSD often relive the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty in sleeping, and feel detached or estranged, and these symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly impair the person's daily life. PTSD disorder is also associated with impairment of the person's ability to function in social or family life, including occupational instability, family discord and difficulties in parenting', he said.
To a question, he said in a region where one-fifth of the population was under age of five, the death toll among young children could be very high. He said teams of psychiatrists were also taking blankets, clothing, tents, emergency medical supplies, and foods for infants and water purification tablets. "Children in the affected areas will be vulnerable to hunger, cold, illness, and trauma.
Getting immediate life-saving relief into the earthquake area will be our priority", he said. He further said emotional trauma would be an important concern, especially for children. Many people were likely to be too frightened to sleep in their houses or apartments tonight because of aftershocks.
Moreover, a few earthquake victims from Muzaffarabad reached here after undergoing worst tragedy in their lives. Mohammad Hafeez Khan, a relative of Kashmiri family residing in Muzaffarabad told this scribe that they had brought 25 relatives from Abbottabad, who reached there after undergoing horrifying episode in their lives. He stated there were 300 members of his family in Muzaffarabad but they could hardly know about 25 relatives.
Moreover, Advisor for Social Welfare Saba Sadiq has asked medical social welfare officers to remain on high alert in view of expected airlifting of earthquake victims to Lahore.
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