BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Tuesday demanded that the state government should provide adequate compensation to the family of the woman who died in a private ambulance as it did not have oxygen facility on the way to SCB medical college and hospital at Cuttack.
Addressing the media, BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said that this unfortunate incident happened due to the collapse of the 108 ambulance service in the state over the past year. Stating that the BJD has been consistently raising its voice about the deteriorating state of the 108 ambulance service, he said that the ambulance services have been impacted because the government has failed to maintain and monitor them properly.
Mohanty claimed that ambulances used to reach patients within 20 minutes of a phone call. But now, due to the complete collapse of the service, patients are having to wait for hours.
Mohanty said another incident had taken place in July at a village in Khallikote in Ganjam district when a youth was critically after hit in the chest by a cricket ball. While he was being taken to MKCG MCH at Berhampur, the ambulance broke down hear Khallikote.
Persons accompanying him contacted another ambulance which reached three hours late. Though the patient was taken to the hospital in a private hospital, doctors declared him dead.