Stop rejecting gunshot, trauma victims, Lagos warns hospitals

The Lagos State Government has appealed to all healthcare providers in the state, both public and private, to stop rejecting gunshot victims and other trauma patients on the excuse of requiring a police report or the need to provide evidence of funds before commencing treatment. .

The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who made the appeal in a statement yesterday while reacting to investigations by the ministry, urged hospitals, health centres and clinics to offer immediate comprehensive care to gunshot victims and other trauma patients in line with the Federal Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act 2017. .

The commissioner noted that the Act provided for obligatory treatment and care for victims of gunshots.

He stressed that the law stipulates that a person with a gunshot wound shall be received for immediate and adequate treatment by any hospital in Nigeria.

He said health care providers hold it duty bound according to their professional oaths to first save lives by offering immediate attention to any patient requiring urgent critical and lifesaving supportive care before any other considerations.

“Such critical care should include where necessary all measures to stabilize the patient before onward referral to more equipped facilities. Simple procedures such as attempts to arrest bleeding or intravenous fluids could make all the difference to saving life”, he said.