Revealing the sorry state of communication infrastructure in the state, an ailing woman was forced to be carried on a sling for two kilometres as the ambulance failed to reach the location due to lack of road connectivity to village Mujuribadi under Daspalla block in Nayagarh district on Tuesday.
As per reports, Kishore Chandra Kanhar’s wife Sebati was suffering from fever for last few days. Suddenly, Sebati became serious and her family members called 108 ambulance services in desperation to carry the patient to the nearby hospital.
However, the ambulance could not reach the spot due to the absence of a motorable road and had to stop two km away from the village. With no other way out, the health workers carried the ailing patient near the vehicle on a makeshift sling by walking over two km in an exemplary show of service. Then the woman was carried to Daspalla Community Health Center in the ambulance and was given proper treatment.
The health workers who extended their helping hands to the patient have been identified as the driver of the ambulance Rakesh Mohanty, helper Ratnakar Mohanty and EMT Sudhanshu Sekhar Jani. The people of the area have showered lavish praise on them for their selfless service.
Notably, poor roads in rural areas have emerged as a major roadblock for 108 ambulance services that were started by the State government as dedicated referral transport for serious patients and pregnant women. In the absence of pucca roads, pregnant women are being carried in slings, on cots, motorcycles and cycles to the hospitals.