In search of ventilator,5-year-old swine flu patient has a harrowing time

“Dr Alok Kumar,the only doctor who looks after swine flu patients,is on leave and may be the ventilator was also not available that is why he was refused admission,” said Dr A K Bhatt,Chief Medical Superintendent of SGPGI.

SGPGI is a super-specialty hospital with limited facilities and has only one doctor in pulmonary medicine,he added.

SGPGI is the only centre in Lucknow with five ventilators for swine flu patients while CSMMU has two. Balrampur Hospital,Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Hospital do not have any ventilators.

From Balrampur Hospital,the child was taken to CSMMU and then to the Infectious Disease Hospital. But IDH sent him to the Trauma Centre pediatrics department. “The in-charge of pediatrics refused to admit the child though he was referred to the centre on paper by the doctor in-charge at IDH,” said Srivastava,a resident of Ashiana Colony. Finally the family had to return to Balrampur Hospital.

Late in the evening,CSMMU doctors agreed to admit the child in Gandhi ward. “After senior doctors from Balrampur Hospital approached the Vice-Chancellor,things materialised. Only two ventilators are available here and once it’s used for swine flu patients,we cannot use it for other patients,” said Dr S N Shankhwar,Chief Medical Superintendent of CSMMU.