Doctors and Nurses Must be Trained for Managements of burn patients

KARACHI- Senior Plastic Surgeon and In-charge Burns Center, Karachi, Dr Ehmer-Al-Ibran has called for training of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff for management of minor and severe burns injuries at initial stages.

Dr Ehmer-Al-Ibran stressed on the need for providing immediate training of initial treatment of burns to doctors, nurses and paramedical staff posted in rural areas of Sindh. He said first three to four hours are critical for patients who suffered burns injuries  therefore training and capacity building of medical professionals  key to save precious lives in case burns injuries .

He said Burns Centre Karachi administration is ready to train doctors, nurses and paramedics posted in Emergency Departments or Surgical Departments of district level health facilities to manage minor burn injury cases at initial stages. He said training of staff will help to reduce mortality ratio caused by burns injures as  big number of  burn patients die while being shifted from the rural areas to Karachi. He said electric burn can cause life-long disability if not treated at initial stages while death ratio is high in fire victims in compared other burn injures if not handled properly.

Dr Ibran said that a government project of opening burns wards at five hospitals in Sindh had been pending since several years due to unknown reasons. The hospitals where these burns units were supposed to be set up were the Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad, Karachi, Liaquat University Hospital, Jamshoro, Chandka Medical College, Larkana, Ghulam Mohammad Mehar Medical College, Sukkur and Civil Hospital Mirpukhas.

He said presently burns patients from Karachi, interior Sindh, Baluchistan and South Punjab were brought in facility for treatment.   He said deaths occurs due to cylinder blast, fire, acid, electricity and other reasons annually   can be  reduced if small Burns Units to be established in district level hospital for management  burns injury cases.

He informed that 70-beded Burns Center Karachi is operating under public private partnership where modern operation theatres, emergency treatment facility, intensive care unit and 24-hour clinical laboratory facilities are available for patients free of cost.

In 2017, about 3,500 patients with burns injuries were dealt in Burns Emergency while 402 deaths were also reported due to burns related complications.