Pakistan: Karachi’s free trauma facility saved lives of over 600,000 patients in five years

Karachi: The trauma centre in Karachi named after late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has been able to save over 600,000 lives of people who endured medical emergency situation due to accidents and sabotage incidents.

A ceremony was held to celebrate the successful functioning of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Institute of Trauma near the Civil Hospital of Karachi for the past five years.

The participants of the ceremony were informed that the trauma centre since its inception had saved over 633,568 lives of people. The centre, however, couldn’t save the lives of 4,456 trauma patients during this time. The diagnostic laboratory of the centre has so far performed around 2,180,000 clinical tests on patients with emergency conditions.

It has been providing emergency medical treatment to around 400 patients daily who are injured due to road traffic and other accidents in the city.

It is the only healthcare facility in Pakistan that has been providing free treatment to critically injured patients.

The centre is equipped with 15 operation theatres that remain functional round-the-clock for life-saving surgeries.

The facilities of accident and emergency department, neurosurgery, orthopaedic, interventional radiology, infectious diseases, anaesthesia and intensive care unit, oral and maxillofacial surgery, cardiac, and thoracic surgery, are available at the centre.

The centre also provided treatment services to over 100 persons who sustained injuries in the Shah Noorani Shrine bomb blast in Balochistan a few years ago.

It also treated patients with COVID-19 patients and heat-related illnesses.

Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho appreciated the untiring services of doctors, medical specialists, surgeons and para-medical staff of the centre to save the lives of the trauma patients.

She appreciated that the centre had transformed into a medical teaching facility to provide training to students of post-graduation programmes in fields related to emergency trauma treatment.

She said the Sindh government aimed at spreading the network of such trauma facilities all over the province in collaboration with non-governmental organisations.