30 out of 104 ventilators at CHK remain non-functional

The hospital needs 50 more ventilators to provide life support to critically ill

KARACHI: As many as 30 ventilators of total 104 have been out of order for several years at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital (CHK) - one of Karachi's largest tertiary-care healthcare facilities.

There are 12 ventilators at the hospital's burns centre, of which only six are functional. Similarly, only 10 out of 16 ventilators at the facility's surgical intensive care unit are in working order. Moreover, seven out of 17 ventilators are out of order at CHK's medical intensive care unit and one of the eight ventilators at its gynaecology emergency operation theatre is non-functional.

In the hospital's cardiology department, two of the three ventilators are in need of repair. Similarly, two of the four ventilators in its cardiac surgery department are non-functional.

There are six ventilators in CHK's neurology department, of which only four are operational. To add to it, four out of 14 ventilators are out of order at its paediatric intensive care and neonatal intensive care units.

However, all 15 ventilators at CHK's operation theatre complex, five at its gynaecology operation theatre and four at its surgical unit-4 are fully functional.

A ventilator is a machine designed to move breathable air into and out of the lungs of a patient who is breathing insufficiently or is unable to breathe at all. As per international standards, CHK needs 50 more ventilators to provide life support to critically ill patients.

Despite attempts to contact him, CHK Medical Superintendent Dr Khadim Hussain Queshi remained unavailable to comment on the matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7th, 2019.