Chhattisgarh: Two-month-old locked in ambulance for more than 1 hour dies

The CM, meanwhile, has promised that accountability in the matter would be fixed and action will be taken.

According to health department officials, Bihar resident Ambika Kumar had brought his two-month-old son, who was born with a congenial heart ailment, to Raipur for treatment. They had earlier taken him to AIIMS, New Delhi.

“We suspect the child was born with a hole in his heart that required surgery. His parents had taken him to AIIMS, New Delhi, but balked at the cost of treatment in the national capital. They were referred to Raipur’s Sathya Sai Medical Centre and were taking the child there when the incident happened,” a health official said.

According to sources, the family had taken a train to Raipur, but when the child’s condition deteriorated they called the Sanjeevani Express — a free ambulance service — on their arrival around 10 am.

The ambulance, reportedly, rushed the child to Bhim Rao Amedkar Hospital, but rear door of the vehicle got stuck.

The child’s parents alleged that the door could not be opened for over an hour, and eventually the child was brought out of the vehicle by breaking a small window.

A press release issued by Sanjeevani, the ambulance operator, however rejected allegations of any wrongdoing. They said they had received a call at 10.13 am for emergency services, and the ambulance had reached the railway station at 10.18 am. They also claimed that the vitals of the child showed no movement at that time itself and he was transported to the hospital immediately.

While the agency did admit that the door of the ambulance had malfunctioned, it claimed that a window was broken without any delay and the child taken to emergency care.