E-Paper
54-year old dies waiting for an ambulance in Pune
We stopped two ambulances passing by, but one said there was no doctor on-board and second one said they had another call to attend, says Hawaldar Deepak Tatey of Samarth police station who assisted the family along with Hawaldar Dhanaji Gophane
A man was declared dead at Sassoon General Hospital on Friday morning hours after he complained of chest pain and lost control of his body. The family members watched him lose consciousness as they sat waiting for an ambulance for hours. As the ambulance failed to come, the still body of Yeshudas Moti Francis, 54, was loaded onto a vegetable carrier tempo stopped by the police around 4am.
“Type 1 respiratory failure with bilateral pneumonitis in case of hypertension,” reads the ‘cause of death’ section of the death report provided by Sassoon General Hospital.
“He had suffered a relapse of hernia after 7-8 years, had blood pressure condition, and faced difficulty in walking without support,” recalls his wife Shobha Francies, also in her 50s. The deceased man had been bedridden for most days over the past 7 years owing to the hernia operation followed by blood pressure. Before that he used to sell flowers near a local dargah.
Max Yeshudas Francis, 23, limped outside the narrow lane of his house as his mother called for him outside their house in part of Nana peth located off Jawaharlal Nehru road. He had acquired the job of office boy at a private company only a month before the lockdown was announced.
“Around 12:30am, he called me and asked me to take him to the public toilet that we use. As he came out, he lost control of his body completely and fell on me. Everyone gathered around and took him outside and started calling for help,” said Max.
The 23-year-old had twisted his ankle as he had spent the previous night pulling the near-limp body of his father out of the narrow lane.
The neighbours managed to open the tin-sheet containment seal installed by the police and set a chair for him while waiting for an ambulance. What they did not know was that the wait was going to be for around four hours.
“He was barely moving when we got there around 1am. We stopped two ambulances passing by, but one said there was no doctor on-board and second one said they had another call to attend. We asked a local tempo owner who also refused. Meanwhile, continuous follow-ups were happening with the 108 helpline. Finally, they said either one from Wadgaonsheri or Katraj will come after two-hours. Even that did not arrive. We tried a rickshaw too but he had hernia and could not fit in due to the swollen stomach. So, at 4am we stopped a vegetable tempo driver who agreed to take him,” said Hawaldar Deepak Tatey of Samarth police station who assisted the family along with Hawaldar Dhanaji Gophane.
“We tried to call private ambulances. We also tried to call the doctor who treats him regularly. He was standing upstairs, but refused to come down and help. The first ambulance driver assigned by 108 was from Kondhwa and said if he comes, he will not touch the man. After some time, as he did not show up, we asked again and he flatly refused to come,” said Sudhir Dhawale, a local social worker who was present with the family.
This is not the first incident of ambulance delay or refusal from the area. In the past two months the response time of the ambulances has gone up to 4-5 hours, according to senior police inspector Balkrushna Kadam of Samarth police station.
“They ask for bed-confirmation from patients before coming. This has become a regular issue now. People in emergency situations call for 108 ambulances and they do not show up for hours on end,” said PI Kadam.
The family has buried the man in Hadapsar cemetery.
