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| Kathmandu, Thursday April 25, 2002 Baishakh 12, 2059. |
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Ambulance-seekers
increase sharply during bandh
By Suvecha Pant
KATHMANDU, April 24 :
Holding his pregnant wife’s hand and letting her lean on his shoulder, Ram Poudel
slowly makes his way to the Maternity Hospital. Despite the scarcity of transport, Poudel
manages to find a free rickshaw but being a poor labourer he was not able to afford the
high fee for the ride.
"I had to walk
from my home in Patan to the Maternity Hospital with my wife," said a sweating
Poudel.
Situations like Poudel’s
are one of many as the five-day-bandh grips the nation.
The five-day- bandh has
affected the flow of patients in Bir Hospital, Teaching Hospital, Patan Hospital,
Maternity Hospital and B&B Hospital. The ill patients in the Kathmandu Valley have
found themselves helpless and are forced to walk to hospitals in cases of emergency.
"Normally, we have
around 60 patients coming for regular check-ups but due to the bandh yesterday there was
only 20," said the medical officer at the Maternity Hospital, Dr. Kumkum Gupta.
"In the emergency
department patients have been forced to work often for more than an hour," said
Gupta.
The doctors of Bir
Hospital inform of reduction in OPD (Out Door Patients) while in the emergency department,
the number of cases are as usual. However, at the Patan Hospital nearly 40 percent of the
inflow of patients has declined due to the bandh.
"The direct
emergencies like life-threatening cases are piling up as usual," said Dr. Bharat
Kumar Yadav, in charge at the Emergency Department of Patan Hospital. "However, in
other areas, the bandh has affected the patients coming for check-ups."
The admission of
patients at the B&B Hospital has decreased by 40 percent. "In the emergency
department, there has been an overall reduction of 30 percent in patients coming for
treatment," said Dr. Rishikesh Narayan, surgeon and Medical Superintendent of B&B
Hospital.
"However, the
ambulance service has been actively catering for the demands of the public by providing
services to the patients," said Narayan.
The ambulance services
have been operated around the clock to meet the needs of the patients.
Sushmita K.C. was
suffering from severe stomach pain and worried if she could reach the hospital during the
bandh. With the prompt service provided by Red Cross Ambulance Service, she could be
treated at Bir Hospital on time.
"I thank God that
my husband called the ambulance service otherwise the situation could have worsened,"
said K.C.
On the other hand,
there are people like Maya Bhattarai (name changed) who called up the ambulance services
in the capital but were not provided much-required services.
"I fell from the
stairs and broke my leg," said Bhattarai. "When I called up for an ambulance
they kept referring to me to other services. I finally had to catch a taxi to the Teaching
Hospital."
The Red Cross Ambulance
Service is a free and 24-hour service to the public. "Yesterday, the calls for
ambulances came every minute," said Muni Basnet, a driver at Red Cross Ambulance
Service.
"Due to the
extreme increase in demand, we select emergency cases and then for the rest of the callers
we refer the numbers for other ambulance services," said Basnet.
Lions Club Bishal
Bazaar Ambulance Service (LCBBAS) also experienced the same increase in the number of
people asking for ambulances. However, according to the service, there has been a decrease
in the number of calls coming for ambulances compared to other Nepal Bandhs.
In spite of this, the
normally handful of service requirements from the public have reached 20 in the first 24
hours of the five-day-bandh. In the case of unavailability of vehicle, LCBBAS contacts
other ambulance services in the immediate area of the caller and then refers them to those
services.
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