KUMARAMBHEEM/HYDERABAD: After trying desperately for close to three hours for an ambulance, a pregnant woman from Bejjur, Asifabad in need of immediate medical attention, died when neither the GVK EMRI 108 ambulance nor the specially launched 102 ambulance service for pregnant women came to her rescue.
At around 11.30 pm on Friday night, family members of Saritha, who was in her ninth month of pregnancy, including her husband Shankar, took her from their home in Sulugupally village to Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Bejjur in an auto.
Speaking to Express, Shankar said that there was no doctor at the PHC at that time and a nurse took up the responsibility of conducting the delivery.
“For almost two hours the nurse and another worker from the health centre tried to deliver the child. At around 2 a.m. Saritha developed fits after which we were told to shift her to a government hospital in Kagaznagar, ‘’ Shankar said.
The family tried calling 108 ambulance service and private ambulances also but their efforts proved futile. Finally, Saritha was taken to Kagaznagar from Bejjur, which is 57 km away at around 6.30 am on Saturday in a private vehicle.
As luck would have it, a private hospital in Kagaznagar refused to admit the woman and told the family to take her to Mancherial, almost 65 km away. Unfortunately, the woman had died by then, probably on way to Kagaznagar itself.
When contacted, Asifabad DMHO, Dr GC Subbarayudu said, “The woman was advised to go to CHC in Kagaznagar after she started bleeding heavily. Every month around 50-60 normal deliveries are conducted at Bejjur PHC. This woman was in her fourth gravida and earlier had one unsuccessful delivery,” he said. When asked why there was no doctor at Bejjur PHC, Subbarayudu said usually doctors are called when there is an emergency during nights.
Woman dies of heart attack after Kanti Velugu screening
Hyderabad: Chenamma (70), who was referred to a hospital for cataract surgery during Kanti Velugu programme, died of health complications while she was being taken to Area Hospital at Shadnagar on Saturday. However, state health department officials said that she died of myocardial infarction arising out of respiratory problems, and not because of anaesthesia overdose. “She was administered anaesthesia in the operation theatre of Natco-LV Prasad Eye Hospital at Kothuru.
She suffered from respiratory problems before the surgery and, died on the way to area hospital in Shadnagar,” the officials said. Chenamma underwent screening and was referred to LV Prasad Eye Hospital’s Natco Eye Centre at Kothuru in Rangareddy district. Though she was an asthma patient, the family did not disclose the condition to the doctors. “She developed an asthma attack after being administered two drops of local anaesthesia. She was taken to Area Hospital in Shadnagar. But she suffered from a massive heart attack and died,” sources said.