KARACHI:As many as 30 ventilators out of total 104 have not been operational at Sindh’s largest tertiary-care institution known as Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) for several years, while hospital management is unable to get them repaired, it was emerged on Thursday.
There are 12 ventilators in Burns Centre out of which six are not functioning, while ten out of 16 ventilators are functional at Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU).
Similarly, a total seven ventilators are lying out of order out of total 17 at Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at CHK.
Three are 15 ventilators are at Operation Theater (OT Complex) and are all fully operational, while seven out of eight are functioning at Gyne Emergency Operation Theater (OT). All five ventilators are operational at Gynecology Operation Theater.
In Cardiology Department two ventilators are lying idle due to want of repair out of three. Similarly, two out of four ventilators are not functional at Cardiac Surgery. There are six ventilators at Neurology Department out of them four are operational and two out of order.
Only four out of 14 ventilators are not operational at Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of institution. There are four ventilators at Surgical Unit -4 and all are fully functional.
The ventilator is a machine designed to move breathable air into and out of the lungs to provide breathing for a patient who is physically unable to breathe or breathing insufficiently.
As per international standards, CHK needs 50 more ventilators to provide life-support to critically ill patients.
Medical Superintendent, Civil Hospital Karachi, Dr Khadim Hussain Qureshi, was not available for comments.