Role of emergency staff lauded at seminar

Experts discuss impact of violence on healthcare professionals at JPMC

KARACHI: The role of hospital staff in performing their duties during disaster and emergencies in the metropolis was lauded by senior doctors at a seminar on Tuesday.

The thought-provoking session, titled 'Mass Emergency', was part of the 51st Annual Medical Symposium at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).



"I am nothing at the emergency room without the support of my staff," said Dr Seemin Jamali, the joint executive director and in-charge of the city's largest emergency room [at the JPMC]. "The staff is always so resilient during all sorts of emergencies, including bomb blasts," she explained.



During her presentation, Jamali shared video clips of the 2010 bombing at the JPMC which showed how the hospital staff resumed their duties after the initial shock and awe. "The staff is always firm on performing their duties despite threats and the burden of work," she added.

Speaking about the preparedness level of the hospital regarding emergencies, she said security must be ensured for the staff, including the ambulance drivers.

Sharing data from a study regarding violence against healthcare professionals, Professor Lubna Baig, dean of the APPNA Institute of Public Health at Jinnah Sindh Medical University, said 40 per cent of victims faced threats to life and property and most were initial contacts such as ambulance drivers. Doctors, nurses and hospitals' security guards also received threats, she revealed.

Maciek Polkowski, representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, highlighted his organisation's role on the subject and the global perspective on violence against health professionals. He suggested that the use of safe tools, along with necessary changes in the law as has been done in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, can minimise violence.

Tehreek-e-Niswan's chairperson and renowned classical dancer Sheema Kirmani spoke on violence against women. "Women are always victims not perpetrators of violence," she claimed.

Kirmani was of the view that creative art, music and dance can overcome discrimination against women in society.  She also presented a video, titled 'Aseel Shahzadi', which depicted discrimination against women.

Professor Iqbal Afridi, head of psychiatry and behavioural science at JPMC, spoke on the psychological aspects of violence against healthcare professionals, saying victims remain in mental trauma for a long time [after the incident].

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th,  2015.