CHENNAI : Death of a student inside Anna University campus on Sunday has put the spotlight on the lack of medical facilities at the sprawling technical varsity, housing hundreds of students.The third-year ECE student, a resident of Lavender Hostel, reserved for NRIs, suffered seizures and died before the ambulance could reach Government Royapettah Hospital where she was taken. Following this, students have raised questions about the ill-equipped medical facilities on the campus.
The premises houses around 5,000 boarders from three colleges under the university — College of Engineering (CEG), Alagappa College of Technology (ACT) and School of Architecture and Planning (SAP) — all of which share the same healthcare facility. But it is closed on Sundays, and work only half-a-day on second Saturday.
University registrar S Ganesan said two doctors are available on a shift basis and two ambulances on call 24x7, he said.However, these ‘ambulances’ are merely four-wheelers with backseats removed to accommodate stretchers. They don’t have pulse oximeters and defibrillators, basic equipment that make a vehicle an ambulance. Also, there are no trained first-responders to perform CPR when a patient is not responding. Both these were crucial in this case, as revealed by details provided by students.
Those who found the student unconscious immediately called both the college ambulance and the 108 ambulance. Both arrived within minutes. “The students decided to take her in the 108 ambulance as ours was ill-equipped,” a student said.
The ambulance took her to GRH. In hindsight, this robbed precious time as there are private hospitals closer to the university, where the university ambulance usually go to in case of emergencies, admitted a senior member in the administration.
An official at the healthcare centre said the patient is usually accompanied by a caretaker. However, students said the caretaker has not been given response training, making the person a mere bystander. A faculty member added that there was no staff present at the time of the incident except a warden.
The college officials said they did not know about the student’s medical history until the incident. The student is said to have suffered a seizure in the morning, hours before she suffered another one for which she was taken to the hospital.
But the health centre never had the best of reputations, pointed out an alumni of CEG who passed out recently. “In my four years there, I have gone there only twice because we prefer private clinics,” she said.
“Once, my friend was suffering from high fever and we called the college ambulance. The lady caretaker and the driver dropped us at a private clinic in Adyar. They merely said she had to be admitted, and we did not know what to do,” she added.
The university administration told Express that they had a meeting with students after the incident and had worked out a few measures to strengthen the healthcare facility. “We are planning to have a fully-equipped ambulance service by next month,” said dean P Narayanasamy.
Response training a must
The patient should be accompanied by a caretaker. However, students said the caretaker has not been given response training, making that person a mere bystander. A faculty member added that there was no staff present at the time of the incident, except a warden. There were no trained first-responders either to perform CPR, when a patient is not responding. The CPR played a crucial role in the present case.