3 patients die while waiting in ambulance outside Tirupur GH
Collector denies claim, says all patients were admitted; similar scene in Salem
COIMBATORE: Three critically ill COVID-19 patients died on Monday while waiting in ambulances for admission at the already crowded Tirupur Government Medical College Hospital.
Official sources confirmed that three persons, including a 55-year-old man, a 40-year-old woman and another middle-aged man, who were waiting in ambulances with oxygen support outside the hospital in a critical condition had died during the day.
Tirupur GH Dean Valli Sathyamoorthy said that the COVID ward was already filled up and patients were admitted for treatment only based on the status of their health condition. “As patients were brought without checking the bed availability status, they were forced to wait in ambulances. Today, three people died while waiting in the ambulance. They all were suffering from various co-morbidities,” she said.
The hospital has a total of 281 beds, including 150 beds with oxygen supply facilities. Only those requiring critical care were admitted to the hospital, while asymptomatic and those with mild symptoms were sent to other treatment facilities set up in marriage halls, colleges and school. The authorities claimed that private hospitals have been referring to critically ill patients in the last stage resulting in the death of long wait for beds. However, denying the claim, Collector K Vijayakarthikeyan tweeted that there was no ambulance waiting outside the GH as all patients were accommodated in the hospital. Meanwhile, CPM district secretary S Muthukannan urged Vijayakarthikeyan to ensure adequate facilities, including beds with oxygen supply in government hospitals, to prevent people from sending patients in a critical stage to Tirupur GH.
Similar was the situation at Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital in Salem, where several ambulances were seen queued up in front of the hospital all through the day due to shortage of beds on Monday. There were even unconfirmed reports that four persons died while waiting in ambulances for admission in the hospital.
“If at all such deaths have happened, only those hospitals which send these patients in a critical stage should be blamed. Some private hospitals in Salem have not been admitting patients even up to 50 per cent of their capacity fearing dearth of oxygen supply. The government should take them over to admit patients,” said a senior official of the hospital.