Annual performance report: KTH to provide airlift service to blast victims

Provincial government to provide a helicopter to KTH to facilitate the provision of prompt medical help.

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) will be the first institution of its kind in the country to have a helipad for its accident and emergency department (A&E). The service aims to provide prompt medical help to bomb blast victims from across the province.

KTH Chief Executive Dr Umer Ayub made the announcement while releasing the hospital’s annual performance report on Sunday. The administration also highlighted a number of achievements in the infrastructure of various departments.

The 10-storey A&E department is under construction and is expected to be completed by 2015 at the cost of Rs650 million. The helicopter will be provided by the provincial government and will transport those injured at blast sites from anywhere in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) to the hospital.

This service will be essential for people living in areas which see a high rate of terrorist attacks, but do not have adequately staffed and equipped hospitals within reach. Often patients, who have to be transported to the Lady Reading Hospital from FR Peshawar and other localities, die en route because of delays in basic life-saving procedures.



“This will be a state-of-the-art emergency building with all types of facilities. We have already finalised plans with the provincial government for a helicopter. It will be used to pick up the most critically injured victims within 30 to 40 minutes of a blast, from anywhere in the province,” explained Dr Umer Ayub.

A team of doctors will also travel in the helicopter to provide first aid, and will airlift the more serious injured victims to KTH. According to Ayub, such facilities are not available in any of the country’s hospitals.

KTH will also provide another previously unavailable service to the province – in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Other maternity and fertility-related plans include an infertility outpatient department, and providing full services related to child delivery.

“We have also installed a special machine for the treatment of leukoderma, which should reverse the loss of pigmentation by up to 70%. It is the first of its kind in the province,” added the KTH chief executive. “The hospital has also started a DNA laboratory in Khyber Medical College. Although it is not to the highest standards, it will assist investigations.”

According to the annual report, two orthopaedic wards have been constructed, the burn unit has been expanded, 16 ventilators have been purchased, and the nephrology unit along with the echocardiography room have been updated. A cardiotocography machine, an electronic foetal monitor for the gynaecology ward, along with the latest delivery tables for the gynaecology unit have also been purchased. The KTH administration now has a mammography machine to diagnose breast cancer, which is currently prevalent in at least 5% of the population in K-P. Moreover, an inspection committee has been constituted to maintain safety and hygiene protocols in all equipment used at the hospital. This is aimed at preventing the spread of disease and ensuring continuous running of the hospital.

“At the moment, in-patients occupy 950 out of 1,240 beds. On Saturday 1,637 patients visited the emergency department, which shows patients coming here expect quality treatment,” said Ayub.

The KTH has improved its capabilities in several ways, but the developments do not intend to stop here. The next milestone on the cards is to initiate robotic surgery, efforts for which are already underway.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2013.