UMERKOTE: Tension prevailed in Umerkote after members of the district ASHA workers’ union and labour unions staged a protest over the death of a 28-year-old pregnant ASHA worker due to alleged medical negligence at Umerkote sub-divisional hospital on Monday.
The deceased was identified as Daimati Bhatra, a resident of village Semala. Bhatra was admitted to the hospital after she complained of labour pain on Sunday afternoon. After receiving treatment for three hours at the hospital, she was referred to the district headquarters hospital but died on the way to Nabarangapur. The child she bore too could not be saved.
The incident sparked protests, with the family and colleagues alleging medical negligence. They demanded action against the doctor whose negligence they said led to Bhatra’s death. She died as doctors referred her to the district headquarters hospital too late, they said and placed her body at DNK Medical square and staged a protest.
Superintendent of the sub-divisional hospital Dr Sarat Chandra Sethy said exact cause of death can be ascertained only after postmortem report arrives.
Woman dies in pvt ambulance ‘without oxygen’
Family members of a 58-year-old woman who died while being shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack from Jagatsinghpur on Sunday have alleged that absence of oxygen in the ambulance led to the tragedy.
The deceased, Pramila Panda of Brahamankhand village, was admitted to the district headquarters hospital for treatment. As her condition did not improve, doctors advised her family to shift her to SCB Medical College and Hospital. Due to a delay in arranging a 108 ambulance, the family hired a private ambulance.
While being transported, her condition deteriorated and she required immediate oxygen support but the ambulance lacked the facility. Pramila died near Gandhi chowk on Cuttack-Nuagaon national highway around 1 am. Dr Saroj Kumar Jena, a senior doctor at the DHH, said an inquiry will be conducted after obtaining a written complaint from the victim’s family.