Critical burn patients forced to travel 250km to Dhaka as Ctg lacks ICU facilities

Critical burn patients in Chattogram are being forced to travel more than 250 kilometres to Dhaka for life-saving treatment due to the absence of specialised burn intensive care facilities in the port city, exposing millions to severe healthcare vulnerability.

The crisis came into sharp focus this week following the tragic deaths of five members of a family after a gas explosion in Halishahar. The devastating blast has once again exposed Chattogram’s serious healthcare deficit, as many victims struggled to access intensive care that does not exist locally.

Out of nine family members critically burned in Monday’s explosion, five have succumbed to their injuries.

The victims were initially taken to Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

However, most had suffered severe inhalation burns and burns covering over 40% of their body surface, requiring immediate ICU and high dependency unit (HDU) support.

With CMCH lacking a specialised burn ICU, families were forced into urgent efforts to arrange ICU-equipped ambulances for transfer to Dhaka.

"It took hours just to manage an ICU ambulance," said Mohammad Jamshed, a relative of the affected family.

"One died on the way to Dhaka, and another died just after reaching the capital. If we had these facilities here, they might have survived."

For years, nearly four crore residents of the greater Chattogram regionhave depended on a 26-bed burn unit at CMCH, which lacks modern specialised equipment.

The recent deaths have renewed calls for the timely completion of the China-aid project of burn unit at CMCH. The Tk 284.76 crore project is mostly funded by China, which is providing Tk 179.83 crore as a grant, while Bangladesh is contributing Tk 104.93 crore, said CMCH Director Brigadier General Taslim Uddin.

A formal agreement to establish the 150-bed burn unit at the hospital’s Goachi Bagan site was signed between the governments of Bangladesh and China on March 13, 2023, he said.

The project experienced a temporary slowdown following political changeover after August 5, 2024, sources at CMCH said.

Work later resumed, with land preparation beginning at the start of last year and physical construction commencing in June 2025.

Hospital officials said construction has progressed to the second-floor slab, with overall completion estimated at 26%.

Although the original deadline is June 2026, authorities have applied for a one-year extension.

"So far the progress of the project work is 26% and we have applied for extension of project deadline till June 2027," said Dr Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, head of CMCH Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit.

The head of the burn unit noted that CMCH currently treats nearly 15,000 burn patients annually, with almost no vacant beds.

"We try our best with limited resources, but without an ICU, we have no choice but to refer critical cases to Dhaka," he said.

Once completed, the six-storey facility will house 150 beds, including 10 ICU beds and 25 HDU beds with dedicated sections for men, women, and children.

It will also feature three state-of-the-art operation theatres and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which is currently available only in Dhaka, he added.

The CMCH director said there was no funding crisis as the Chinese government was providing equipment and overseeing construction.

"Once they hand it over next year, we will be able to treat the most critical patients right here," he said.