Cases of acute coronary syndrome and presumed cardiac death prior to arrival at an urban tertiary care hospital in Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic

What is it about?

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted everyday life to an extent that people in need of emergency health care avoided going to hospitals. In developing countries like Pakistan, where emergency ambulance services are not available, the situation worsens due to lockdowns and lack of public transport. It resulted in an increase in heart patients dying at home or reaching hospitals later than usual which made the treatment difficult and decreased the chances of survival.

Featured Image

Photo by Alex Plesovskich on Unsplash

Photo by Alex Plesovskich on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The study showed the negative impact of lockdown measures and the indirect effect of the pandemic on the death rate of other life-threatening conditions. It was interesting to note that Pakistan had a comparatively lower number of COVID cases and deaths due to COVID. The health system was not burnt out unlike the European countries, but the out-of-hospital deaths increased due to a lack of emergency medical services. The results addressed the need for ambulance services with skilled staff and medical hotline numbers.