The immediate past president of the Association
of Resident Doctors, National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Dr. Bright
Igbinoba, has called on the Federal Government to upgrade
facilities at the Burns Unit of the hospital for the treatment of
bomb-blast victims in the country.
Igbinoba, who made this call at the 2012
Scientific Conference of the association tagged, ‘Insecurity in Nigeria: A
Challenge for the Health Sector, in Lagos on Thursday, said existing facilities
at the Burns Unit of the tertiary hospital were inadequate for proper
management of burns cases especially for blast injuries.
He said, “With the spate of insecurity in the
country, by now, Igbobi should have been designated as the Burns Centre
especially with the population of bomb blast survivors that we have and the
increasing insecurity in the country.
“The unit should be upgraded to a centre with
facilities and personnel. This would better position the hospital for the treatment
and management of victims. It would reduce the number of casualities and deaths
during disasters.’’
He lamented that many bomb-blast victims who
needed specialised care were often referred to the centre but they could not be
admitted due to lack of facilities and bed spaces at the unit.
According to him, the burns unit of the hospital
could not admit more than 20 patients at a time.
“When there is a blast, we can have many victims
coming here, yet we don’t have the facilities to admit them and they
are usually in critical stages where they should be in intensive care but we
can’t help in spite of our expertise. So, we are calling on the Federal
Government that we need facilities that can take more blast injured patients at
the Unit,” he stated.
He also added that more centres for blast
injuries should be established in other zones especially in areas that are
worst hit by disasters.
Punch
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