THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : “It was a near-death experience for me. In the darkness, I lost track of time. I think I even saw my ancestors,” recounted Raveendran Nair, who was trapped inside a lift at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, for two nights.
When the lift door finally opened on Monday, after an agonising 42-hour wait, the 59-year-old was thankful to the lift operator, saying he seemed like a saviour sent to rescue him.
What started as a routine hospital visit on Saturday to treat a backache turned into a nightmare for Raveendran, an Ulloor resident and local secretary of CPI in Thirumala. Unsuspectingly, Raveendran entered lift number 11 located near the hospital superintendent’s office around noon to show his medical report to an orthopaedic doctor on another floor. “There was no sign board indicating maintenance. There was good lighting inside the lift as well, but no lift operator,” said Raveendran, a temporary employee of the Legislative Assembly.
The lift went up, almost reaching the second floor, and then came down with a thud and was suspended between the two floors.
Panic-stricken, Raveendran picked up his mobile phone which fell down, but couldn’t make calls as it was damaged. “The lights went off. I tried to call the helpline number using the phone inside the lift and also pressed the panic button repeatedly, but received no response,” he said.
Resigning himself to fate, he lay down using his bag as a pillow, finding solace only in the ventilation. He struggled to keep track of time without a functioning phone. “Each hour felt like a day. When I was finally freed, I thought it was already July 20,” he said.
Patient trapped in lift: 3 employees suspended
Taking medication for hypertension, Raveendran had no water or medicine with him. He couldn’t help but think about what would have happened if a pregnant woman or a cancer patient had experienced such an ordeal.
He was finally rescued by a passing lift operator, who noticed the unusual position of the lift, around 6am on Monday. The lift operator opened the door and asked Raveendran to jump out. He is under observation at a ward in MCH.
Raveendran’s family members, who had filed a man missing complaint with the Medical College Police on Sunday, were relieved to find him.
“I tried to reach my father on Saturday but his phone was off. We assumed he was on night duty after seeing the doctor. But when he didn’t return our calls even on Sunday afternoon, we filed a complaint,” said Raveendran’s son, Harishankar.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Veena George has warned of strict action over the incident.
As per the directive of the health minister, the joint director of Medical Education and hospital authorities conducted an enquiry and suspended three employees, including two lift operators, Murukan and Adarsh J S, and duty sergeant Ratheesh, for dereliction of duty.
As per norms, it is the duty of lift operators to ground the lift, check and lock it at the end of the day.
They are responsible for switching off the fans and lights and checking the lifts in each floor at the end of OP time. They should also place an ‘out of service’ board if the lift is not working.
The report found that electrical wing did not get any intimation of lift problem from the ground staff. There are 11 lift operators in the hospital and three of them were on duty on Saturday.
