JK News Today
Srinagar, February 8: As the two deadliest earthquakes have wrecked avoc in southern Turkey and norhern Syria, Doctors’ Association of Kashmir (DAK) as sought eathquake safety audits of all the hospitals of Kashmir valley.
They have expressed tat this wil help people to know how safe are hospitals in the valley where in case of any such emergency things don’t get aggravated.
“Recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria is a wakeup call for Kashmir which is vulnerable to similarly powerful seismic events. Structural audit of hospitals should be done immediately to ensure they are resilient to earthquakes.,’’ said DAK President Dr Nisar ul Hassan.
He said that hospitals play an important role in saving lives during an earthquake. They provide immediate medical succor in the form of emergency medical care. “It is essential that these crucial life-saving assets remain functional at a time when they are needed the most,” he said.
“We need to identify the gaps and fill them on priority,” he said adding, “corrective measures such as strengthening and retrofitting of these lifeline buildings, if needed should be done on urgent basis.”
Dr Nisar said hospitals in Kashmir need to increase their surge capacity to cope with increased number of patients in case of a disaster like earthquake.
“Hospitals should have designated disaster wards and reserved staff in case of large scale disaster,” he said.
