GAMBAT: The Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) on Thursday held a Rapid Trauma Response Workshop to train doctors, paramedics and medical students in managing victims of road traffic accidents and other emergencies, according to an official statement issued by the institute.
Titled “When time is short, preparation is the key to success,” the workshop was designed to give participants practical training in delivering timely, coordinated and effective treatment when minutes matter. The institute said 40 participants took part, drawn from medical students, doctors, paramedical staff and health professionals.
Director GIMS Captain (Retd) Dr. Raheem Bux Bhatti attended as chief guest, while renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Rabail Basit was the special guest.
Rather than relying on lectures alone, the workshop was built around hands-on skills stations. According to the statement, separate stations were set up for chest tube intubation, deformity correction, difficult airway tracheostomy, dental wiring, and airway and helmet spine stabilisation.
Participants were divided into groups, and a relevant surgeon was present at each station to teach in detail and answer questions. Senior consultants Dr. Hamid Laghari, Dr. Usama, Dr. Junaid Hussain, Dr. Mohsin Mumtaz and Dr. Sahto Khan Rind conducted the training.
The programme covered immediate and effective emergency response, hands-on practice under expert supervision, modern technology and international protocols, teamwork and the protection of the patient’s life.
Addressing the ceremony, Dr. Bhatti said that providing the best training to future doctors, technologists and paramedics was the need of the hour. He said the institute’s main focus was on students from rural Sindh, who are being trained at GIMS in various fields, including laboratory technology.
The aim, he said, was to give these students quality, professional training on modern lines so they could provide medical services on the pattern of Aga Khan and other major hospitals. He added that GIMS is today counted among the best hospitals in the country and provides free treatment to poor and deserving patients.
Dr. Bhatti urged students to complete their education with hard work, dedication and honesty, reminding them that the responsibility for the nation’s health would rest on their shoulders in the future.
Welcoming participants, Course Director Dr. Pir Asad Aziz, who heads the institute’s Robotic Neuro Spinal Surgery Department, said the training focused on how doctors should respond to trauma patients arriving in the emergency department.
He said the workshop series was started in 2022 in collaboration with the Government of Sindh and is now being continued on the special instructions and interest of Dr. Bhatti. Its purpose, he said, is to raise awareness and train the maximum number of doctors and paramedical staff so they can better help trauma patients across the country.
Dr. Rabail Basit said she was pleased to see stations set up on the pattern of international hospitals, a format she said proved extremely useful for medical students, house officers and postgraduate trainee doctors.
Such workshops, she said, were not only academically important but also served as a valuable networking platform, giving students the chance to interact directly with consultants and seek guidance on neurosurgery. She congratulated Dr. Asad Aziz and his team on organising the workshop.
Road traffic crashes remain a leading cause of death and long-term disability in Pakistan, and survival often depends on what happens in the first minutes after an injured patient reaches hospital. Emergency physicians describe this early window as the “golden hour,” when securing the airway, controlling bleeding and protecting the spine can decide whether a patient recovers or suffers lasting harm.
The hospitals serving rural communities, where patients may travel long distances before reaching specialist care, a wider pool of staff trained in these first-line procedures could help prevent avoidable deaths. By continuing the series, the institute is signalling an effort to build that capacity outside the country’s major cities. At the conclusion of the workshop, Dr. Bhatti distributed certificates among faculty members and participants.
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