ISLAMABAD: The ad-hoc system at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) has been blamed for the deaths of at least four patients that occurred in the emergency ward of the hospital over the past two days due to suffocating heat, said hospital doctors who also organised a protest on Saturday.

These patients were brought to the emergency department for different health issues, including heatstroke, but they passed away after their complications were aggravated due to a non-functional air conditioning system at the ward, the doctors claimed.

They also protested the suffocating heat at the hospital, which was “killing the patients and also making it impossible for doctors to work” at the emergency department.

Some of the attendants also fainted due to the heat.

Later, the doctors had a meeting with the executive director (ED) but were disappointed to hear that the issue could not be addressed at once.

Hospital faces shortage of X-ray films; doctors blame woes on ‘ad-hoc system’

Moreover, X-ray films were not available in the hospital due to which patients were advised to take snapshots and show them to the doctors. Unfortunately, a majority of patients, who came to the hospital from far-flung areas, lacked smartphones.

ED’s spokesperson Dr Mubashir Daha said that efforts were underway to address the issue as existing air conditioners of emergency were disconnected due to the ‘heating, ventilation, and air conditioning’ (HVAC) system which would be installed by June 30. He said the issue of the shortage of X-ray films would be addressed soon.

Stifling heat at emergency dept

A doctor, who has been deputed to the emergency department of the hospital, wishing not to be quoted, said that the stifling environment at the emergency department was compounding the medical conditions of patients and during the last 48 hours four patients had died because of this factor.

“I believe that all four of them could have survived if the air conditioning system of the hospital would be functional. Because of the suffocating heat, it was next to impossible for the patients to breathe,” the doctor said, adding, “Currently, even a healthy person cannot spend an hour in the emergency department. One should imagine what would be the situation of patients.”

He said that on Saturday morning doctors protested against the situation in front of the administrative block and later they were called by the management which informed them that they should cope with the situation as efforts were being made to get the HVAC system at the earliest.

“Unfortunately we don’t have a permanent executive director at Pims due to which things are not being streamlined. The ad-hoc system has been killing the patients,” he said.

According to a doctor, at least 70 ACs installed in the hospital were removed during the past few years to install the HVAC system. During the protest, doctors also asked the management to recover these air conditioners which had gone missing after their removal.

Another doctor said that the air conditioning was not functional in different departments, such as emergency, ICUs, and other wards. “Because of the ad-hoc system there is no one to take a stand to resolve issues of the hospital,” he said, adding that the heat wave aggravated the complications of patients.

“The hospital also lacks X-ray films due to which a number of patients are told to get a snapshot of the X-ray from the screen and show it to the doctor, but a large number of patients and their attendants lacked smartphones,” he said.

“It is unfortunate that the largest hospital of the city is lacking a cooling system,” he said, claiming that urine culture and blood picture tests were also being discouraged because of a lack of kits. “We appeal to the health minister to intervene and ensure that the patients do not die of heat,” he said.

ED’s Spokesperson Dr Daha said that Public Works Department was installing the HVAC system and “one can imagine how public sector departments work”. “Unfortunately, the majority of existing air conditioners have been removed to install the new system,” he said, adding that the HVAC system would be installed by June 30 as per the PWD’s deadline. Replying to another question, Dr Daha said against the requirement of 700 films on a daily basis, the vendor only provided 500 x-ray films to the hospital.

“So around 200 patients are advised to take snapshots of the X-ray to show the results to doctors. The films are not available because LCs (Letter of Credit) were not being opened.” He, however, assured the issue would be resolved since the central bank lifted a ban on imports.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2023