No syringes, electricity as wounded pour into Juba hospital

Juba Teaching Hospital is experiencing power cuts and a shortage of medicines as gunshot victims continue to arrive this morning.“The situation at the hospital is critical,” said a reliable source inside the facility who declined to be named because of the presence of security personnel.At least two dead and five injured were received at the hospital this morning – both civilians and soldiers.The hospital has run out of supplies including syringes and certain drugs. There is also not enough gauze and bandages, and the operating theatre is full.Juba Teaching Hospital has no blood bank but family members are able to donate blood to their relatives directly, providing there is electricity to operate the laboratory. As of 9:30 this morning, however, there has been no electrical power at the hospital because of a shortag of fuel for the generators. Similar outages occurred yesterday.“There are not enough doctors and nurses. They are cut-off because of the curfew,” the source told Radio Tamazuj.Referring to overcrowding at the hospital, he added that “There is a ward with more than 30 people, all wounded with bullets.”A doctor estimated yesterday that the number of wounded is about 100.An additional problem is that arguments have broken out between wounded fighters and security personnel present at the hospital.Juba Teaching Hospital is the main civil hospital in the country’s capital. Other wounded have been taken to the UN hospital, military hospital or private clinics.File photoRelated: Hospital overwhelmed in South Sudan capital (16 December 2013)