Tamil Nadu medical team wins uphill battle to save tribal mother, newborn

It was an unforgettable Christmas for K Sofia, the Village Health Nurse (VHN) in Bettamugilalam panchayat.
The mother and the baby being brought down the hill (Photo| Express)
The mother and the baby being brought down the hill (Photo| Express)

KRISHNAGIRI:  It was an unforgettable Christmas for K Sofia, the Village Health Nurse (VHN) in Bettamugilalam panchayat. She was part of a medical team that helped save two lives – a 26-year-old mother and her newborn from Kadambakuttai tribal village on the hills of Bettamugilalam – late on Friday night.

Kelamangalam Block Medical Officer (BMO) C Rajesh Kumar said he received a phone call at around 10 pm on Friday that Madhuri of Kadambakuttai delivered a baby girl a month before her due date at her house around 5 pm on Friday and reported blood loss for about four hours.

The BMO, the VHN, Health Inspector R Ranganathan and Unichetti Primary Health Centre nurse N Malashree stocked up necessary medicines and rushed to the foothills of Kadambakuttai. Meanwhile, he alerted the 108 ambulance at Bettamugilalam. The vehicle reached the foothills around 11.30 pm.

Rajesh said the team had difficulty reaching the patient and her relatives due to poor network connectivity in the hills. They, however, managed to reach them by contacting various sources and asked Madhuri and her husband Muniyappan (30) to reach the foothill. The TNIE reporter helped the medical team in reaching the patient by contacting Bettamugilalam panchayat secretary Jayakumar, who, in turn, asked the villagers to carry the young mother down to the foothill.

Kadambakuttai village, housing 40 Irular families and a few  families of caste Hindus, has no road connectivity, and people have to trek 3 km down to reach the foothill for their daily needs.
The medical team, ambulance driver R Sendhurapandi, and emergency medical technician (EMT) of the ambulance M Anitha started to trek uphill around 1 am. Meanwhile, Madhuri’s relatives were trekking down carrying the woman on a sling made of bamboo and blankets. The two teams met in the midway. The medical team gave Madhuri first aid and administered IV fluids.

A health staff said, “Health Minister Ma Subramanian visited Bettamugilalam panchayat and even trekked to Kadambakuttai in July this year. Thanks to him, an ambulance was stationed at Bettamugilalam and could attend to the emergency quickly. Else, we would have to wait for the ambulance from Unichetti PHC, which is far away.” Muniyappan said there was a delay in trekking down as the sling they were carrying Madhuri on was torn in the midway and they had to make another. 

VHN Sofia said, “This is an unforgettable experience. When we were all getting ready for Christmas celebrations, I got a call from the BMO about the delivery. Tension gripped me immediately and we started praying that nothing untoward should happen to the mother and the baby.”

J Murugesan, a villager of Kadambakuttai said, “Only about a week ago, we spotted an elephant near our farmland. Luckily, the medical team or the patient did not encounter such an issue on Friday night. We petitioned the district administration to lay road or to resettle us at the foothills.

So far, we don’t know what happened to the petitions. Only a few days ago, we had to carry my sister-in-law to hospital on a makeshift sling. My father died a few months ago without access to immediate medical support.” Krishnagiri Collector V Jaya Chandra Bhanu Reddy said the district administration was working on the petition.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com