We must say it is not a good practice that BSMMU routinely sends patients to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for emergency treatment who come with injuries from road accidents, street violence or gunshots. Such practice is simply deplorable and amount to a big failure of the otherwise huge medical institutions treating almost every disease and offering Post-Graduate courses. We know that the hospital management had laid the foundation of an Emergency Department in December 2015, but why there is no visible progress to set up the necessary infrastructure is not clear while doctors and hospital staff are busy in their fights to advance individual and group interest. The initial plan for the Emergency Department says, emergency patients would be admitted in the Department to stabilize their condition first and later to shift them to relevant department for further treatment.
The vacuum in the hospital is not unknown to the Health Ministry and other authorities playing various roles to run the hospital. It can’t be easily understood why there is no concerted effort to set up the wing as we understand there can’t be funding shortage at least in this regard.
BSMMU Vice-Chancellor Kamrul Hasan Khan said they have a plan to set up a 20-bed Emergency Unit on the first floor of the Cabin Block with operation theater facilities. Neither the Vice-Chancellor nor the Pro-Vice-Chancellors, Treasurer and Deans of Faculties can’t say for sure when the initiative would make progress. The internal situation is highly complex; no one can take a move without being challenged by another. But in such situation even BSMMU has to send its Post-Graduate students to DMCH for three months internship, which is totally unacceptable.
We must say, there can’t be any fair explanation why the BSMMU can’t have an Emergency Department; it must have one and it is the responsibility of the government to set up it immediately to prove that it is capable to govern.
