A helping hand: Rangers establish Heatstroke Relief Centres in Karachi

The 10 centres will provide first aid to patients with heat-related illnesses

KARACHI: At a medical room inside the Rangers Headquarters 72 Wing, paramedical staff is busy sponging two people suffering from heatstroke.

Following the rise in deaths due to the heatwave, the Pakistan Rangers, Sindh established 10 heatstroke relief centres in the city, almost all of them operating inside the Rangers headquarters. Open to all, the centres provide free-of-charge treatment to those who are suffering from heat stroke.

A Rangers official said that their officers are well-prepared to deal with the hot weather. "We are deployed at the border and are engaged in training. We also have heat stroke rooms," he said.

At this headquarters located near Kala Pul, a Rangers officer was being administered a drip while cold water was being poured on Javed, a civilian patient at the centre. Javed, who works at a nearby shop, said that when he collapsed he was brought to the centre by the Rangers deployed nearby. "I feel much better now," he claimed.

The Rangers official said that the centres have been opened to facilitate the public. "Hospitals are already full and crowded and by the time a person reaches the hospital, they are already dehydrated. Our centres will work as first aid providers in a bid to reduce the death toll," he explained.

The patients will be exposed to cold air and sponged down, and will be given ORS and a drip. The Rangers' own doctors will be looking after the patients and in case a person needs further care, the Rangers' own ambulances will take the patient to the nearest hospital.

Providing relief

The relief centres are located at the Rangers Training Centre and College, Toll Plaza, Sindh Rangers Hospital, Block A, North Nazimabad, Headquarter (HQ) 53 Wing, Baldia Town, HQ 93 Wing, People's Football Stadium, Mauripur Road, HQ 91 Wing, SITE Stadium, HQ 72 Wing, Kala Pull, HQ 83 Wing, Jamia Milia Malir, HQ 82 Wing, Muzaffarabad Colony, HQ 63 Wing, Karachi University and HQ 44 Wing, North Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2015.