Parents stopped from breaking ambulance door as two-month-old suffocated

In Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur, a two-month old child suffocated to death right outside a hospital as the door of the ambulance that was carrying him to it malfunctioned. The child’s father was warned not to damage government’s property, when he tried to break open the ambulance’s window.

The child was in need of a cardiac surgery and was being taken to Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Hospital, in Raipur, after his parents had consulted doctors at AIIMS in Delhi. They boarded a train to Raipur to reach the hospital and end up disheartened.

The father, Ambika Kumar, contacted Sanjeevani Express, a free ambulance service, after they arrived in Raipur as the child was in no state to be travelled with by public transport.

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The family’s real nightmare began when they reached the hospital and the door of the ambulance got stuck. Despite the help of a mechanic, the family struggled for hours and were unable to open the door.

Reports by Zee News also claimed that the father alleged that the oxygen cylinder available inside the ambulance did not have oxygen in it.

When Mr. Kumar wanted to break the windows, he was told he couldn’t do so. The baby died inside the vehicle this morning.

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The hospital administration hasn’t reacted to the incident. But the tragedy and lack of humanity did not end there as the inconsolable parents wept while also waiting to be provided for a hearse van which could not be arranged.

It is being said that a former legislator Kuldip Juneja then intervened and arranged for an auto-rickshaw with which the couple and deceased baby were taken to cremation ground, an unconfirmed report surfaced on Clipper28.

The spotlight is also being draw towards the fact that ambulances were on a strike and hence operators who weren’t well-versed with the equipment were appointed for duty.