MADIKERI: A 60-year-old woman discharged from Madikeri Covid hospital was allegedly dropped off in the middle of the road by an ambulance driver. The woman was later identified by an auto driver who took the woman to her house which was over 2 km away.
Ponnamma (60) is a resident of Kiruguru village in Somwarpet taluk. She was tested positive for Covid during the second week of May and is said to have been in home isolation. However, she developed respiratory issues on May 15 and the family members then admitted her to the Covid hospital in Madikeri.
“After my mother developed a respiratory problem, we called 108. An ambulance reached our doorstep and she was shifted to Madikeri Covid hospital,” recalled Shanthi, Ponnamma’s daughter. Ponnamma was admitted to the ICU and she was later shifted to the ward. On Sunday, Ponnamma was discharged and later boarded an ambulance to go home at Kiruguru.
“We never received information on our mother’s discharge from the hospital. Further, the ambulance driver dropped off my mother two kilometers away from the house at Aiguru village,” explained Shanthi.
Ponnamma then started to walk towards her house alone. Since the village was shut following the lockdown, she walked from Aiguru to Kiruguru. “On Sunday evening, we were shocked to receive a call from the village ASHA worker who said that my mother was walking alone on the road. We rushed in my cousin’s vehicle. By then, an auto driver who knew our mother had ferried her half way,” added Shanthi.
She voiced against the hospital authorities for not informing the family about her mother's discharge. “They had taken our numbers, but failed to update us about the discharge. We later called the hospital helpline number to inquire about the same. However, they said that they worked on shifts and somebody might have called our numbers. However, you can check our call list and we did not receive any calls from the hospital,” voiced Shanthi.
She also condemned the ambulance driver and said, “It was inhuman of him to drop off a 60-year-old on the roadside.”