JUNE 24 (Reuters-CCTV) — Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in Karachi, Pakistan is under great pressure these days to treat patients with heatstroke, as the high temperature had claimed nearly 750 lives as of Tuesday night.
Statistics show that most of the killed were people around 50 years old.
“Mostly people coming here are facing heatstroke and they are old people. Their ages are around 45 to 50 years old, so the older they are, the more serious problems they are facing,” said Juhaid Ahmad, a volunteer.
JPMC, as the biggest hospital in Karachi, could hardly meet the needs of treating thousands simultaneously. A lot of patients had to wait outside.
“However seeing the situation we normally see about 1,100 to 1,200 patients per 24 hours in the emergency department. In this time of the season we have seen something like 1,800 to 1,900 patients per 24 hours which is a very tremendously high figure,” said Seemi Jamali, head of the emergency center of JPMC.
JPMC authorities said they had received nearly 4,000 patients in three days, 276 dead before being treated or due to treatment failure.
Syed Qaim Ali Shah, the Chief Minister of Sindh, announced a state of emergency on Tuesday night. Holidays of medical staff are canceled. Government departments and schools are suspended.
Pakistan army helped to set up 14 tents for high temperature relief in Karachi, offering free ice and water for people and teaching them how to take protective measures against the heat waves.
