With no road for ambulance, ailing woman carried in sling in Malkangiri

Malkangiri: At a time when the Odisha government is making tall claims of providing better healthcare by rolling out various schemes, there seems to be no improvement in basic infrastructure, particularly in remote areas as patients continue to face hardship in seeking emergency medical services.

In one such instance of poor infrastructure, a woman patient had to be carried in a sling for nearly 4 kms to reach the ambulance at Goiguda village in Bondaghati of Malkangiri district.

According to reports, the woman identified as Sambhari Gadnayak was suffering from fever. Later, her family members called up an ambulance to shift her to hospital. However, due to lack of motorable road to the village, the ambulance could not reach the patient.

With no options, the family members along with some villagers placed the patient in a sling and walked for more than 4 kms passing through the rocky road to reach the stationary ambulance at Muduliguda.

Sources said, Nayak was initially rushed to the Khairiput health centre and later shifted to Malkangiri District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) after her condition deteriorated.

This is not the first instance when patients as well as pregnant women have been carried on cot or slings due to non-motorable roads in Odisha. Earlier on January 11, an expectant mother was carried on a cot after ambulance failed to reach the patient due to poor roads.