Helpline helpless?

The reluctance to help an accident victim seems to be slowly giving way to alacrity in rushing the casualty to the hospital. And while th...

The reluctance to help an accident victim seems to be slowly giving way to alacrity in rushing the casualty to the hospital. And while there is always a fear of cops hounding the good samaritans, there is also an increasing awareness and understanding that immediate medical care must be provided to the injured. The September 5 incident on the Gulawni Maharaj Road, near Mehendale Garage, is a case in point.

Abhijit Shende and Nitin Mahajan, members of the social organisation, `Helpline For You’, were driving down the road at 11.45 a.m. when an old milkman suddenly fell off his bicycle, hit a sharp stone and started bleeding profusely. The youngsters contend that although Dr. Uday Gokhale’s clinic was just a stone’s throw away, the latter refused to even “examine the patient.” Gokhale’s counters this, saying that “being a physician, I do not have suturing equipment and am not authorised to do any surgical work. So I asked the two to rush the man to the nearby Narayani Hospital, just half a kilometre away”.

This triggered off vehement protests from the youngsters and a heated argument ensued between the two parties. The issue is still embroiled in controversy – `Helpline For You’ sent a formal complaint to the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to take “appropriate action” against the “concerned doctor” on September 5 itself.

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Says Shende, “We rushed the injured, Krishnaji Phatak, to Dr. Uday Gokhale’s clinic but were met with apathy. The complaint to the IMA states that `on our requesting him (Dr. Gokhale) to treat the patient, the doctor refused to examine him or even give him the necessary first-aid treatment. His arrogant and rude behaviour shocked us. Moreover, he challenged us to make a complaint against him to any authority”.

Gokhale begs to differ. He states, “I’m a physician and only have a consulting room. I’m not a surgeon. These two youngsters barged into my clinic while I was examining a patient. The milkman needed urgent suturing. I explained that I was not equipped with suturing material, and therefore, he should be rushed to the nearby Narayani Hospital.

"They insisted that I examine him and give him first-aid. But I told them that what he required was suturing. As soon as I saw the old man, I knew he needed urgent stitches, not first-aid”.

This apparently made the youngsters angry. Shende states, “I don’t think any doctor can refuse to attend to such a case as per law. At least on humanitarian grounds, he should have checked him and given him first-aid. But he did not even allow the old man to sit on the chair”.

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Reiterates Gokhale, “Once I have given them the alternative, they have no right to demand that I examine him. Despite my protestations, they kept arguing”.

Finally, the youngsters did leave the clinic. Another passerby, Anagha Limaye, recognised the old man and rushed him to her family doctor’s clinic, which was also in the vicinity. The point is – is Gokhale’s stance of not examining the victim, correct? Is the insistence by the members of the `Helpline For You’ on treatment by Gokhale, despite being told to rush the wounded to the nearby hospital, right? (See box).

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