Anisul Islam Noor :
The death from heart disease can be reduced by 80 percent if a patient is given proper treatment within an hour, physicians said.
Fifty percent of heart patients die within an hour before reaching the hospital, they said.
More than one hundred patients are brought to the National Heart Foundation every month, but they die on the way to the hospital. Doctors say that 50 percent of patients die in the first one hour of the attack. But if the patient is given proper treatment at proper time, then death can be reduced by 80 percent.
This is called the ‘Golden Hour’. The Coronary Care Unit (CCU) related ambulance is necessary in this city of traffic jam to use the Golden Hour. Because such specialised ambulances have CCU facilities like hospitals. There are also a Ventilator, a system of medical and trained physician-nurse-technicians, in ambulances, sources said. In the evening, after returning home from the office, suddenly Jahangir Hossain met a heart attack in his resident of the city’s Uttara. He was brought to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) Hospital. But due to traffic congestion on the road, it took about two hours to reach the hospital. After reaching the hospital, the doctors said after examining that the patient died on the way.
Not only Jahangir Hossain, more than one hundred patients were brought to the NICVD Hospital every month,who died on the way.
Cardiologist Dr. APM Sohrabuzzaman said, if the primary angioplasty can be done within one hour of sudden pain in the chest, then recovery potential of the patient is 95 percent. That is why there is no alternative to CCU-rich ambulance in bringing patients to the hospital.
Talking with different hospitals and the attended people, the number of CCU ambulances in the whole country is not more than 15.
Labaid, United Hospitals, Apollo and Ibrahim Cardiac have CCU Ambulances facilities. However, there are no such special ambulances in government hospitals including National Heart Foundation.
Labaid Group Managing Director Dr. AM Shamim said that patient’s death for transport is tragic. There is no treatment for emergency patients in our country. The government cannot work alone. This requires public-private partnership (PPP). Under the PPP, if at least CCU-rich 500 ambulances can be provided, then situation will improve much.
He also said that even if an ambulance supports at least 30 patients per year, it should be arranged. If 100 ambulances serve 3000 patients, then life of three to five thousand patients will be saved annually.
In neighboring India, such ambulances have gone in the rural areas. Nurses and technicians are now going home to treat cardiae patients. Such measures can also be taken in Bangladesh, he suggested. The traffic jam is a big problem in Dhaka. According to a World Bank report released this year, the average speed of vehicles in Dhaka in last 10 years has dropped from 21 kilometers to seven kilometers per hour, which is slightly more than the pace of walk.
For this reason, 32 lakh hours of work hours are being lost in Dhaka. The traffic is not just a waste of time. This is why city dwellers suffer from various diseases like nerves and brain problems, ear disease, spinal problems, stress, respiratory disorders.
Besides, due to the traffic congestion, the death toll is increasing due to the death of patients who are unable to reach the hospital at the scheduled time.
Health experts believe that the number of emergency medical and emergency ambulances needs to be increased to reduce the number of patient deaths.
According to them, the ambulance is not the patient’s vehicle. It is also a means of providing emergency services. Emergency services should be maintained in the ambulance for the injured patients, and heart patient. But in our country, the CCU-rich ambulance is inadequate compared to the requirements. Many people do not know ambulance telephone numbers or special ambulances. Because of this many patients die on the way.
Director of Health (Hospital and Clinic) Dr. Kazi Jahangir said that cardiac ambulances, which have special facilities for heart patients have two only in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Nine cardiac and 75 common ambulances will be bought for the current fiscal year government hospitals. Specialised ambulances have trained nurses, medical personnel, including the necessary equipment. According to health Division, there are 685 ambulances at government medical colleges, specialised and district-upazila level. At the medical college hospitals and at the special level, 18 of the total 72 ambulances are crippled. A total of 96, out of 192 ambulances in the 64 district hospitals are in bad condition to run.
