Dearth of expertise: Doctors highlight importance of emergency care
Solicit govt support.
Solicit govt support. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The current system of providing emergency care needs to be revamped and trained emergency physicians should be employed in all public and private hospitals in the country.
This was the collective opinion of doctors during a meeting on Thursday. The northern chapter of the Society of Emergency Physicians Pakistan, a national society working towards improvement in emergency medical care, held its maiden meeting at the Shifa International Hospital (SIH) in Islamabad.
Doctors who participated in the meeting said the government must provide support to emergency departments at hospitals since they are the first place where a patient’s life can be saved. Upgrading emergency departments will also reduce the state’s healthcare costs, they said.
SIH Programme Director of Emergency Medicine Dr Abdus Salam Khan said emergency medicine was a new field in Pakistan. “The College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) had only recognised emergency medicine as a specialty for training in 2010.”
There are only four supervisors and around 16 field trainees in the country, Dr Khan said. “People who are least trained are running emergency departments in the country’s hospitals.” He said SIH and Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi were the only two centres in Pakistan that offer field training.
Dr Shoaib Shafi, a counsellor at the CPSP, said there was a need to bring emergency medicine to the forefront. CPSP supports emergency medicine training programmes and the organisation will help other hospitals and individuals trying to launch emergency medicine training, he added.
Emergency medicine physicians and postgraduate trainees attended the meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2013.
The current system of providing emergency care needs to be revamped and trained emergency physicians should be employed in all public and private hospitals in the country.
This was the collective opinion of doctors during a meeting on Thursday. The northern chapter of the Society of Emergency Physicians Pakistan, a national society working towards improvement in emergency medical care, held its maiden meeting at the Shifa International Hospital (SIH) in Islamabad.
Doctors who participated in the meeting said the government must provide support to emergency departments at hospitals since they are the first place where a patient’s life can be saved. Upgrading emergency departments will also reduce the state’s healthcare costs, they said.
SIH Programme Director of Emergency Medicine Dr Abdus Salam Khan said emergency medicine was a new field in Pakistan. “The College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) had only recognised emergency medicine as a specialty for training in 2010.”
There are only four supervisors and around 16 field trainees in the country, Dr Khan said. “People who are least trained are running emergency departments in the country’s hospitals.” He said SIH and Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi were the only two centres in Pakistan that offer field training.
Dr Shoaib Shafi, a counsellor at the CPSP, said there was a need to bring emergency medicine to the forefront. CPSP supports emergency medicine training programmes and the organisation will help other hospitals and individuals trying to launch emergency medicine training, he added.
Emergency medicine physicians and postgraduate trainees attended the meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2013.