In Valley, hospitals face shortage of supplies, medicines

In an SOS to the J-K Government, Zargar has listed the items that they need urgently to keep the hospital’s busy operations theatres, emergency and trauma units functional: “surgical disposals, dextrose saline, normal saline, X-ray films 12X15 and 10X15 (Hindustan Photo Films), surgical gloves and blades”.

Zargar said the last three days have been extremely sad. “There were times when I felt like crying. But then I thought what will the families of these injured feel if they see me breaking down,” he said. “It is a tragedy. Our dozen operation theatres have been busy day and night.”

He said that four vascular surgeons were also on a round-the-clock job. “We received 51 critically wounded injured on the first day itself. We are receiving dozens of patients,” he said.

SKIMS’s top cardio-thoracic surgeon Dr A G Ahangar has been operating constantly for the last three days. “My hands are numb,” he says. “We are having a very tough time”. The biggest problem for the hospitals is ferrying patients and staff. Zargar said one of their ambulances was still missing. “We are yet to trace it,” he said. “There have been several attacks on our ambulances by the security forces”.

Meanwhile, the J-K Police are probing reports of attacks on ambulances and hospitals by the CRPF and police on Tuesday.