Hundreds of patients at Government Medical College Anantnag are suffering in absence of a cath laboratory even as officials claim that facility will be available soon.
Officials told news agency KNO that cardiac catheterization lab, also known as a “cardiac cath lab,” is a specialized area in the hospital where doctors perform minimally invasive tests and advanced cardiac procedures to diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease.
They said that the cardiology unit is functional at GMC Anantnag but in absence of a cath lab they refer patients with minor or major heart attack to Srinagar.
The first hour after a heart attack is known as “the golden hour.” Taking appropriate action within this first hour can save a patient’s life, they said, adding that most deaths due to cardiac arrest happen during this period.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 47% of deaths occur due to sudden cardiac arrests before an individual reaches the hospital.
“If a patient who has suffered a heart attack reaches the hospital within the golden hour, cardiologists and trained emergency physicians are in a better position to run the appropriate tests and scans to confirm the occurrence of a heart attack and take the patient to the catheterization laboratory (simply called ‘cath lab’), where an interventional cardiac procedure called a primary angioplasty is performed to clear the cause of most heart attacks — plaque build-up that blocks the artery/arteries,” they said
However, in absence of cath lab no angiography or angioplasty facilities are available at the hospital due to which patients most of time lost their golden time in reaching to SKIMS or SMHS hospital.
Doctors said that if a cath lab will be established at the hospital, it can help in saving lives of dozens of patients who lost their golden period in travelling to Srinagar.
They added that the facility can ease patient rush at Srinagar hospitals as well.
Locals said that the hospital has importance as besides getting patients from South Kashmir district, patients from Banihal, Ramban and other parts of Jammu division are coming for treatment to the hospital.
Meanwhile, officials at the hospital told KNO that they have already sent requisition to the government for establishment of all important cath lab and are waiting for its approval.
Principal GMC Anantnag Dr Tariq Qureshi told KNO that a cath lab is already in pipeline and very soon this facility will be available at the GMC.
