WEATHER ALERT | Kashmir hospitals gear up for emergencies

Srinagar, Apr 27:  Amidst the forecast of inclement weather conditions, the Health Department in Kashmir has directed the hospital authorities to remain vigilant and prepared to cater to any kind of medical emergency that might arise due to potential flooding.

In a circular issued by the Director of Health Services Kashmir, the hospital authorities have been instructed to maintain sufficient stock of medicines, life-saving drugs, and other essential supplies at all healthcare facilities.

The comprehensive circular outlines a series of measures to be taken, including activating emergency plans at hospitals in flood-prone areas, shifting major medical equipment to higher floors, and stocking additional medicines, consumables, fuel, and mess requirements to ensure uninterrupted functioning during floods.

Furthermore, the circular calls for activating disaster management cells at the district and block levels, initiating measures to control outbreaks and epidemics through enhanced surveillance and management and strengthening Primary Health Centers (PHCs) to improve epidemic monitoring and control capabilities.

Other directives include organising medical camps as needed, mobilising resources at the district headquarters, establishing mobile units with trained personnel, testing facilities, communication systems, and emergency treatment facilities at the district level.

The circular emphasises the importance of ensuring the availability of survival and emergency kits, including additional fuel and mess arrangements, during disaster situations.

It also stresses the need for arranging rubber boats and life jackets from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to provide hassle-free medical services during floods.

Additionally, the circular highlights the necessity of ensuring the availability of secondary power sources at all health institutions, conducting regular awareness campaigns to sensitise the public about disaster preparedness, and ensuring the presence of trained medical staff to attend to all types of sickness and injury cases, with the creation of backup teams and specialist teams at the district level for deployment in affected areas.

The circular also emphasises the importance of updating contact information for available medical staff, obtaining and transmitting information on natural calamities to central sites, disinfecting water sources to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases, arranging treatment and transportation of the injured in coordination with emergency services, SDRF, and other departments.

In the event of landslides in hilly areas, the circular calls for an action plan to tackle medical emergencies promptly.

It also stresses the need for mapping volunteers for blood donation, implementing vaccination drives against diseases like typhoid, Hepatitis A, and cholera, and managing potential epidemics.

Moreover, the circular highlights the importance of ensuring the availability of mortuary facilities at local hospitals, conducting situational assessments and reviewing the status of response mechanisms in vulnerable areas, providing treatment and socio-medical rehabilitation for injured or disabled persons, and coordinating the identification of risk-prone sites to set up relief centres.

The circular instructs authorities to ensure the dispatch of personnel and medical supplies to areas requiring disaster relief measures based on post-assessment requirements at the central level.

It also oversees the arrangement of ambulance services and emphasises the need for mapping plans to the nearest health units and local transport facilities, including water transport requirements (rubber boats), in the absence of transport facilities.

The circular stresses the importance of tracking the locations of pregnant mothers through ANC registrations and those due for childbirth to facilitate transportation to safer and adequately equipped comprehensive emergency obstetric care units with neonatal facilities.