Daily Times

LAHORE: Patients at public hospitals are running out of breath, as around 116 ventilators at teaching hospitals across the province are lying dysfunctional, putting lives of patients at risk.

Well-placed sources told Daily times, seeking anonymity, that lives of many critically-ill patients at public hospitals are dependent on “obsolete” ambu bags due to an acute shortage and dysfunctional of ventilators.

Unlike automatic ventilators, which have controls to monitor, oxygen, carbon dioxide and other key parameters of a patient, ambu bags have no such mechanism. If the frequency and volume of air pressed through an ambu bag is high, it can lead to a sudden increase in blood pressure and can damage the lungs. If the frequency and volume of air is lower, it can lead to higher levels of carbon dioxide, which could also be fatal.

According to sources, 42 teaching hospitals working under the specialised Healthcare and Medical Education (SHC&ME) Department have just 866 ventilators and 750 of them are working while 116 ventilators are non-functional sine long.

An acute shortage of ventilators at allied hospitals in Lahore has multiplied miseries of patients. “Only 229 ventilators are working while 58 are lying dysfunctional in public hospitals, sources said, adding that situation could be gauged from the fact that 36 of 104 ventilators at the Services Hospital were out of order since long.

Similarly three ventilators at Mayo Hospital, three at Jinnah Hospital, one at Sir Ganga Ram, three at Lahore General Hospital, two at Punjab Institute of Cardiology, three at Sheikh Zayed Hospital and four ventilators at the Lady Willingdon Hospital are out of order.

The situation is not different when it comes the Nishtar Hospital Multan where 23 ventilators have become dysfunctional since long. Likewise, 13 live-saving equipment are out of order at Ch Pervaiz Elahi Institute of Cardiology, Multan.

Only 73 ventilators have been provided to the allied hospitals of Rawalpindi for a population of over five million residents of which 12 ventilators are dysfunctional, forcing people to move critical patients to private hospitals, which charge high rates.

As many as 10 ventilators out of 49 are out of order at the Holy Family Hospital, 19 at Benazir Bhutto Hospital.

Irony of the situation is that Ghulam Mohamadabad Hospital, Faisalabad, Mian Munshi DHQ Teaching Hospital, Lahore, Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) and the Government Sardar Begum Hospital, Sialkot don’t have a single ventilator.