Patients and medical staff crowd a Lucknow government hospital emergency ward during the Diwali period as trauma services handle a surge in road accident victims, firecracker injuries and burn cases.
Lucknow: Diwali celebrations and their aftermath kept emergency departments across the city on high alert, with more than 2,000 patients reporting to major govt hospitals over two days. The figure is significantly higher than last Diwali, when the city’s five major govt hospitals together treated over 1,100 patients during the festive period. At King George’s Medical University (KGMU) Trauma Centre, 160 patients injured in road accidents, cracker blasts and burn incidents were treated on Nov 8 and 9. KGMU spokesperson Prof K K Singh said the cases included 110 road accident victims, 44 people injured in cracker blasts and six burn patients. Of these, 72 patients were treated on Diwali, including 44 road accident victims, 26 cracker-blast injury cases and two burn patients. The number rose to 88 the following day, comprising 66 road accident victims, 18 cracker-blast injury cases and four burn patients. Hospital director Dr G P Gupta said the facility recorded 930 emergency visits and 54 emergency admissions during the period. Emergency records showed 98 burn cases, 16 medico-legal cases and 52 accident referrals, while four patients had to be referred to other hospitals. At Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS), emergency services attended to 780 patients over the two days, including 305 on Nov 8 and 475 on Nov 9. Institute spokesperson Bhuwan Tiwari said 34 patients were admitted, while 35 burn victims received treatment. Doctors also carried out 32 emergency laceration and suturing procedures.
Road accidents , firecracker-related injuries and burn cases accounted for a large share of the caseload, stretching trauma and emergency services. Doctors attributed the spike partly to an extended post-Diwali rush, with many patients seeking treatment a day after the celebrations. SPM (Civil) Hospital also witnessed a heavy influx of patients.