The valley. Known as much for the beauty of red roses that come in bloom as for the red wounds that may open up-from a stray bullet, or a bomb. A paradisaical setting which honeymooners avoid for the preservation of their limbs and more. Kashmir, no stranger to violence has been shaken by protests in recent days, and this time it’s the civilians who challenge the establishment.

So far, the protests has seen 47 civilians die in Kashmir and over 3,000 injured. In this backdrop, the role played by the peripheral hospitals of the Valley’s Health Services department in saving lives and tending to the injured is commendable.

The crisis that changed everything

In the district and sub-district hospitals in the valley, about 2,500 people injured by pellets, bullets or tear smoke shells have been treated. To save the injures, doctors and paramedics sometimes had to literally risk their lives. The same could be said about the ambulance drivers as well.

As Dr. Saleem ur Rehman, the Director, Health Services told The Indian Express, nearly all the injured civilians were initially treated in hospitals run by the Health Services department. The critically injured were ferried off to the North, South and Central parts of Kashmir to city hospitals. Many lives were thus saved, he said.

According to Dr.Saleem, the number of those treated in hospitals under the Directorate, till date is about 2,500. Over 322 were referred to a higher centre post initial treatment. He said that his mobile and landline phones were continually ringing the initial ten days after the protests broke, with people wanting to know whether the loved ones were injured.

Whereas before the protests, he would reach his office at 10 AM, nowadays, he is in by 7. And though his home is just 8 kms from the office, he prefers travelling by ambulance instead of the official vehicle since it’s safer.

Over 97 ambulances and vehicles belonging to the J & K health department were damaged during the protests. Aside from the damage to property, staff members are also victims of attacks.

A few months back, a Control Room was set up at the Barzulla Health Centre. It’s where the info about issues of patients or staff in health centres can be obtained. And it’s where Dr.Saleem goes before getting to the office.

Practically the first thing that the doctor does once he is in the office is compile the data from different rural health centres. For situations like floods, a Standard Operating Procedure has been set up. It’s the same that Dr.Saleem and his team follow during these stressful times as well.

Exigencies within the crisis

Exigencies come with the territory of such crises. For instance, shortage of oxygen was a problem faced by some centres since the plants were closed. Dr. Saleem said that he had to visit the plant owner to obtain the supplies. He also keeps in touch with the chief medical officers(CMOs). If there is shortage of oxygen or drugs, then that is the priority.

With the curfew and the highway getting closed at some point, supply-shortage was experienced in rural hospitals-particularly in south Kashmir where the protests were more violent. The supplies then had to be lifted from Jammu Dr. Saleem says that he couldn’t forget the drivers who risked their lives to bring the supplies.

Since communication is down, running ambulances between hospitals to get news and updates is also done.

One of the ambulance drivers, Jan Mohammad, posted at the Qazigund Health Centre was attacked one night. Dr. Saleem then drove towards Qazingund even though the national highway was closed. He said that he being the head of department must lead from the front.

He met security men on the way and protesters stopped him at many places. But eventually he made it to the beaten ambulance driver.

Dr. Saleem says how, upon seeing doctors working round the clock to help the injured at the district hospital, he was “filled with pride.” He said that the doctors at the Aantnag hospital performed such complicated surgeries which would be difficult even in normal circumstances.

He said that his doctors have performed more than 5,175 surgeries in just two weeks-including both major and minor ones.

The rush which the crisis has brought is taking a toll on the doctors’ personal lives as well. As Dr. Saleem says, even though his son came down from Mumbai for the Eid holidays, he was unable to spend even a single hour with him. He adds that all his doctors and paramedics work under similar circumstances.

With inputs from The Indian Express
Image credits: The Indian Express

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