Kathmandu, August 27
Treatment of people injured in the devastating floods in Rasuwa is continuing at Trishuli Hospital, but doctors say damaged roads and bridges have made it difficult to bring critically injured patients to the hospital.
According to Dr Rajendra Lama, director of Trishuli Hospital, 16 injured people were brought to the hospital for treatment on Wednesday. Three of them were in serious condition and have been admitted for further treatment.
On Thursday, rescuers brought another 21-year-old man to the hospital. He was also in serious condition and is undergoing treatment, including a CT scan, Lama said.
The disruption of road and bridge connections has become the biggest obstacle to transporting injured people from flood-affected areas, according to Lama.
“Right now, we are in a situation even more remote than Humla,” Lama told Onlinekhabar. “There is no way to bring patients here except by helicopter.”
The hospital has been able to receive injured people from areas within roughly five to seven kilometres of the hospital. However, bringing patients from settlements farther away has become extremely difficult.
“We were able to rescue and bring in the patients from nearby areas yesterday,” Lama said. “But it is not possible to bring those injured farther away to the hospital. They can only be brought here if they are rescued by helicopter.”
The flood has also disrupted drinking water, electricity and transportation services in the affected areas, Lama said. He stressed the need to immediately restore road connectivity between Bidur and Trishuli.
He said that even if major roads and bridges cannot be rebuilt immediately, temporary bridges or pathways that allow people to walk and motorcycles to pass could significantly improve rescue and medical services.
“Even a small bridge for pedestrians would allow us to carry patients across,” he said. “From there, it would also be easier to take them to Kathmandu.”
Lama urged the government to make immediate arrangements to bring injured people stranded in flood-affected areas to hospitals. He also called for safe drinking water, healthcare and sanitation facilities for people staying at relief centres.
