NICVD guard 'assaults' patient, attendants

Administration claims attendants forcibly entered emergency ward, harassed staff

KARACHI: The video of a security guard deputed outside the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) assaulting a patient and his attendants has gone viral on social media.

The video of the incident, which took place on May 27, showed the security guard arguing with the attendants of the patient after barring them from entering the emergency ward.

The guard had reportedly first asked the attendants, mostly women, to leave the emergency ward and then pushed them out.

As a result, there was a scuffle between the patient and the guard, after which the patient fainted.

Meanwhile, the doctors and administrative staff present on the spot remained silent throughout the incident.

Condemning the incident, the NICVD administration demanded security for the doctors and paramedics serving at the hospitals, adding that bringing more than one attendant to the hospitals went against the defined standard operating procedures in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

According to the hospital administration, the incident took place when the guard tried to stop the patient's relatives from forcibly entering the emergency ward, adding that they misbehaved with and harassed the doctors and staff.

Furthermore, the management claimed that the attendants had abused and assaulted the security guard, but doctors had still provided treatment for the patient in order to save his life.

According to the administration, recent attacks on medical staff at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital and other hospitals across the country had made healthcare workers fearful.

It appealed to the patients and their families to cooperate with the hospitals in the current situation, pointing out that doctors and paramedics were risking their lives to keep them safe.