Bhubaneswar, Oct. 18: As fate would have it, all eight ventilators at the Capital Hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) were occupied when people injured in the SUM hospital mishap started streaming in last evening. Left with no choice, the Capital Hospital authorities had to refer most of the arrivals to other private hospitals.
"The patients who were referred to the private hospitals were critically ill," said hospital superintendent Manoranjan Dash. He said only those who were not critically ill were retained for treatment. The hospital, the biggest government-run health care facility in the state , was ill-prepared to handle the crisis as is evident from the fact that the majority of patients who were shifted here after the inferno had to be put on makeshift beds on the floor.
Dash said that since the hospital handles a huge number of patients on a daily basis and there is a dearth of doctors and other health care professionals, the hospital had to refer those who were critically ill to other hospitals. The superintendent said of the five patients who were admitted to the hospital, two each were admitted to the ICU and the medicine ward and a baby was admitted to the neo-natal intensive care unit.
Rashmiranjan Champatiray, 23, spoke about his ordeal at Sum Hospital and his continued despair at Capital Hopital. His mother, Sulochana Champatiray, 50, was brought to Capital Hospital at 9pm on Monday. He said no doctor was available at the female ward to look after the patients. "We were simply given a bed," he said. Rashmiranjan added that he could not show the medical investigation report of his mother to the doctor who finally visited the ward around 10am today. "My mother is suffering from fever. She was admitted to the Sum hospital," he said.
Sulochana's brother Pradeep Kumar Routray, 56, said he would soon shift his sister to a private hospital. "We do not want to compromise on Sulochana's health. We are fortunate to have survived the tragedy," he said.
Sulochana was admitted to Sum Hospital on October 14 and had undergone blood tests to ascertain the reason behind the high fever.
Pradeep said the reason people prefer private hospitals over Capital Hospital is the lack of attention towards patients, especially those who are critically ill or injured. "The hospital, despite having a huge area, does not provide quality health care to people," he said.
However, Dash said the patients from Sum Hospital were taken care of promptly. "The Capital Hospital staff, despite lacking in infrastructure and adequate doctors, were able to attend to the patients," he said.
Director, Capital Hospital, B.B. Patnaik admitted that there was a shortage of doctors at the hospital. The hospital's preparedness to handle cardiac emergencies can be gauged by the fact that it does not yet have a facility to perform cardiothoracic surgery. Patnaik said there were no interventionist cardiologists at the hospital to handle such surgeries.
Helplines
Relatives of patients had a tough time last night getting information on the whereabouts of their loved ones after the inferno at Sum Hospital here that claimed the lives of 20 patients. The hospitals where the patients were shifted from Sum Hospital today issued helpline numbers for helping relatives trace the patients.
While the Sum Hospital's helpline number is 7381036050, the Capital Hospital's is 9439991226 and AMRI Hospitals' number is 0674-6666600.
Even after escaping the inferno, helpless and distraught relatives scampered around several city hospitals searching for their near and dear ones, as most surviving patients were shifted, while the dead were sent for autopsy.
"I had admitted my father in the cardiology department of Sum Hospital for treatment. After the fire started, they stopped allowing entry to the department," said Jagannath Pradhan. "I searched for him at every city hospital as they did not give out any information. Finally, I found him at Capital Hospital," said Pradhan. He said the helpline number could have helped him trace his father had it been issued earlier.
