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Denied ambulance, couple forced to carry infant’s body for 120km on two-wheeler in Andhra Pradesh | Visakhapatnam News
VISAKHAPATNAM: A couple were forced to carry the body of their 14-day-old baby on a two-wheeler for approximately 120km from Vizag to Paderu in the Alluri Sitarama Raju district after they were denied an ambulance by the hospital where the child was admitted.
An ambulance provided by ITDA assisted the couple in continuing their journey for an additional 70km to reach Kumada village, located on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
After a viral video capturing the incident was shared on social media, there was a stir across the state. Subsequently, the district administration and superintendent of KGH quickly initiated an investigation into the entire incident.
According to sources, the 14-year-old boy from Kumada in Munchingput mandal, a stronghold area of banned Maoists, was brought to KGH for treatment a couple of days ago.
The boy breathed his last at 7.15am on Thursday.
The staff of KGH allegedly did not respond to the requests of the parents Matysa Raju and Maheswari for an ambulance.
KGH has a Tribal Cell to help the tribal patients. When the staff did not respond properly, the parents shifted the body to scooty.
Matysa Raju, the father of the newly born baby boy, approached the Tribal Cell at 8.20am for the ambulance. When he didn’t get any help, the father decided to carry the body on a two-wheeler. Some of the tribal youth came to know about the issue and informed the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), which arranged an ambulance from Paderu to Kumada.
Parents of the deceased were not available for comments while the KGH Superintendent Dr. P Ashok Kumar told TOI that they verified the CCTV footage.
Matysa Raju and Maheswari left the KGH along with the body at 8.57am, Kumar said.
“When Matysa Raju requested an ambulance, the staff arranged it. But it took time to reach the Paediatric ward. The ambulance reached the ward at 9.15am and by the time they had left the KGH in a hurry,” he added.
He said that there was no rule that an ambulance would not be provided for deceased aged below 5.
“My standing instructions are to extend services to needy ones. We have an ambulance. Even if we do not have an ambulance, the family of deceased persons can hire a private ambulance and we will pay the bill. We are inquiring about the whole issue,” he said.
An ambulance provided by ITDA assisted the couple in continuing their journey for an additional 70km to reach Kumada village, located on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
After a viral video capturing the incident was shared on social media, there was a stir across the state. Subsequently, the district administration and superintendent of KGH quickly initiated an investigation into the entire incident.
According to sources, the 14-year-old boy from Kumada in Munchingput mandal, a stronghold area of banned Maoists, was brought to KGH for treatment a couple of days ago.
The boy breathed his last at 7.15am on Thursday.
The staff of KGH allegedly did not respond to the requests of the parents Matysa Raju and Maheswari for an ambulance.
KGH has a Tribal Cell to help the tribal patients. When the staff did not respond properly, the parents shifted the body to scooty.
Matysa Raju, the father of the newly born baby boy, approached the Tribal Cell at 8.20am for the ambulance. When he didn’t get any help, the father decided to carry the body on a two-wheeler. Some of the tribal youth came to know about the issue and informed the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), which arranged an ambulance from Paderu to Kumada.
Parents of the deceased were not available for comments while the KGH Superintendent Dr. P Ashok Kumar told TOI that they verified the CCTV footage.
Matysa Raju and Maheswari left the KGH along with the body at 8.57am, Kumar said.
“When Matysa Raju requested an ambulance, the staff arranged it. But it took time to reach the Paediatric ward. The ambulance reached the ward at 9.15am and by the time they had left the KGH in a hurry,” he added.
He said that there was no rule that an ambulance would not be provided for deceased aged below 5.
“My standing instructions are to extend services to needy ones. We have an ambulance. Even if we do not have an ambulance, the family of deceased persons can hire a private ambulance and we will pay the bill. We are inquiring about the whole issue,” he said.
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