Berhampur: The heart wrenching visuals of a minor boy pleading an ambulance driver to shift his ailing father to hospital shocked people across Odisha. The boy’s father died allegedly owing to inordinate delay in hospital admission after the concerned 108 ambulance driver denied ferrying the patient citing COVID-19 protocol.
The shocking incident has been reported from Prahalad Nagar area in Berhampur.
The 11-year-old boy was seen repeatedly pleading the ambulance driver to help shift his father Manoj Praharaj to the hospital. Manoj was a diabetic and his family members had called 108 ambulance after his condition deteriorated today.
Though the ambulance reached on time, its driver and other staff refused to shift the patient. Manoj’s son and daughter kept on reminding the ambulance staff about their duty. However, all the pleas fell on deaf ears and the kids' father breathed his last on the house verandah in front of their eyes.
Even though the other family members had called an autorickshaw to shift the patient to the hospital. Following public pressure, the ambulance driver agreed to shift the patient to hospital. However, it was already late by then.
“The 108 ambulance came, but they did not shift my father to the hospital. They told me that another ambulance would come as per government protocol,” said deceased Manoj’s son, Manas Praharaj.
It is not an isolated incident as there have been several reports of critically ill patients not getting timely help, especially from emergency vehicles due to COVID-19 fear in Odisha.
Earlier on July 12, one Sibaprasad too had met with a similar fate when ambulance staff and other onlookers suspecting him to be COVID-19 positive, failed to intervene.
Responding to today’s incident, Ganjam district Collector shared a video and appealed public to cooperate with ambulance staff citing reports that the ambulance driver was beaten up by the patient’s family members.
(Edited By Bikram Keshari Jena)
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