Hospitals get ready to deal with Diwali emergencies

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" times="" new="" roman="" class="author">SOURAV SANYAL</span><br />CHANDIGARH: As the city gears up to celebrate Diwali, hospitals are leaving no stones unturned to make sure that they are equipped enough to cater to emergencies that might arise out of eye and burn injuries.<br />Be it PGI, Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) or General Hospital (GH), authorities say that they are fully prepared to tackle emergencies.<br />Notes GH''s deputy medical superintendent Dr G Dewan, "Arrangements have been made to cater to patients round the clock.As against other days when the eye consultant is available on call, for Diwali eye surgeons would be posted at the hospital throughout. Further, a team of specialists would also be available to take care of patients who suffer other forms of injuries and burns."<br />GH has also installed four telephone lines exclusively for patient assistance. "We have earmarked three ambulances to assist patients in coming down here in case of a mishap. While two would be available from Enquiry, one would be posted outside the Emergency. <br />This facility would be available to those who call up on either of the four telephone numbers as their details would be instantly registered. In order to check the veracity of the call, it is advised that the PCR be intimated alongside," observes Dr Dewan.<br />Prof Amod Gupta, head, department of ophthalmology, PGI, says that in case of an eye injury, rather than trying to force open the injured eye and washing it with cold water, those attending to the person should rush him to the nearest hospital instead. "Trying to open closed eyes and splashing cold water should be avoided at all costs. Since only a specialist can assess the exact nature of the injury, the injured person should be rushed to the nearest specialist or the hospital before the damage becomes irreversible," he says.<br />"In case of an emergency, we advise the patients to head straight for the Eye Ward on fifth floor of Nehru Hospital where doctors will be on duty round the clock. Arrangements have been made to perform surgery without delay if required. A team of doctors would be there to assist the patients and in order to make sure that there is no time loss in attending to the patients, patient cards at the Emergency could be made later," says Prof Gupta.<br />GMCH medical superintendent Dr Raj Bahadur says, "Instructions have been passsed to ophthalmology department to take care of patients with eye injuries while a team of doctors from the General Surgery Department would be posted to attend to burns patients.<br />Ambulance too would be available on call and in case of their non-availability in the hospital, the Emergency Medical Officer would be providing the callers with contact numbers of places from where ambulance could be arranged."<br />GH: 102, 782457, 768265/6 (Enquiry, Ambulance); 768201 (Emergency)<br />PGI: 747585-92 (Ophthalmology Department ext 6111, 6911)<br />GMCH: 665253-60, 665545-49 (EMO ext 1201) </div> </div>