Nitor struggles with bike crash victims
Abul Hashem was going to his betel leaf field in Kushtia's Daulatpur upazila as a pillion passenger of his son's motorcycle on May 10.
To avoid a possible clash with a locally made three-wheeler, his son lost control over the bike.
The three-wheeler, which suddenly appeared from a brick kiln, ran over and crushed Hashem's right hand.
The 65-year-old man was taken to the capital's National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (Nitor) where his right hand had to be amputated to save his life.
"We were carrying a sack of oilcake on the motorcycle for the betel leaf field, around seven kilometres away from home. We go to the field on motorcycle as a small number of vehicles ply the road due to the shutdown," said Hashem lying on a sickbed at the hospital's emergency ward.
"Doctors first wanted to save my hand by conducting two surgeries, but they were forced to amputate during the third one," he said.
Like Hashem, many people are taking motorcycle ride as their means of communication amid the shutdown due to the Covid-19 outbreak. And people are swarming in the Nitor every day with their limbs fractured mostly in motorcycle accidents.
Road safety campaigners blamed reckless motorcycle driving on almost empty roads and law enforcers' relaxed attitude towards motorcyclists for the comparatively high bike accidents during the shutdown.
"The patients we are handling since the shutdown began are mostly victims of motorcycle accidents," Nitor Director Prof Abdul Gani Mollah told The Daily Star.
Previously, most patients were victims of accidents involving light and heavy vehicles like truck, bus, and car, he added.
"We are struggling to deal with the patients as some doctors and nurses have been sent to Covid-19 hospitals on deputation while some others are either in isolation or quarantine due to the Covid-19 infection," Prof Gani said.
When the number of non-Covid-19 patients drastically reduces at hospitals amid the coronavirus outbreak, Nitor, the lone specialised Orthopaedic government hospital, is handling a huge pressure as patients across the country rush there.
There are around 400 inpatients at the hospital now, while this number is nearly 550 at the usual time.
The authorities have kept open the emergency operations round the clock, but limited the outdoor service. Besides, doctors also conduct scheduled operations of patients as delay may cause infections, officials said.
One of these correspondents on Monday stayed at the emergency unit for about half an hour and saw at least five patients with fractures coming in.
Doctors and nurses wore personal protective equipment and masks, but the patients and their attendants were not serious about their safety.
An official from the emergency unit said they used to receive nearly 180 patients a day.
"Although the shutdown is going on, and all vehicular movement, except for emergency service, is suspended, we are receiving more than 100 patients a day," he said, preferring anonymity.
"We are admitting only the most critical patients, and the number is not more than 30 a day due to shortages of healthcare service providers," he said, adding that most patients were from outside Dhaka.
Twelve-year-old Mehedi Hasan of Chandpur was admitted to the hospital on Sunday with fractures in the right leg above the knee.
Mehedi said a reckless motorcyclist hit him when he was going to a mosque to offer Zohr prayers. The district hospital referred the seven grader to Nitor as his fracture is severe.
Talking to The Daily Star, some patients and their attendants said there were no restrictions on motorcycle movement in their districts.
Many are frequently travelling on their motorcycles, while many are carrying passengers in absence of public transport.
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