DAMMAM — A shortage of beds in Dammam Central Hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU) hindered efforts by doctors in the emergency room when they received three people involved in a traffic accident on Tuesday at the Dammam Corniche. One of them was critically injured and bleeding profusely but due to a shortage of beds in the ICU, he was kept for more than 24 hours in the emergency room. Abdullah Muhammad Al-Semahi, father of the three young men involved in the traffic accident, said, “My sons were rushed to the hospital because they sustained serious injuries in a traffic accident at the Corniche. One of them was badly hurt and the ER doctor ordered his transfer to the ICU but because of the shortage of beds he was left lying in the emergency room. He said he the shift manager to transfer his sons to another well-equipped hospital to avoid potential complications." Al-Semahi said that doctors had ordered a Computerized Tomography (CT) scan and a diagnostic x-ray to make sure there was no hemorrhaging in the brain, but were told that the CT device was out of order. The patient was then moved to Al-Qatif Hospital where he finally received the CT scan. Waleed Al-Qerni, a patient who was scheduled to undergo a surgical operation last Saturday, said he also had to postpone his surgery because the CT scan was out of order. Similarly, Naser Al-Harithy who was referred to the Radiology Department for a CT scan, was kept waiting for more than 10 hours as engineers fixed the machine. The hospital's director said the hospital had two CT scan machines and only one was out of order. However, when the victim was brought in, the second machine also stopped working. He added that the Ministry of Health was aware of the situation and was working to replace the old machines. — SG
