SWINE FLU PATIENTS TREATED LIKE PARIAHS: ATTENDANTS
Scared paramedics refuse to attend to patients, they complain. Suggest the staffers should either be told about do’s and don’ts or be given proper masks
Ward number one of Gandhi ward in King George’s Medical University has been divided into two enclosures, using curtains. Not unusual. But what is extraordinary is the fact that patients admitted in one half are treated normally while those in the other half, meant for H1N1 positive (swine flu) patients, struggle to manage things. Those admitted in this section say getting treatment is not easy for swine flu patients as they are treated as untouchables. “More than the disease, it’s the untouchability that kills,” said an attendant with Baljeet Singh, a swine flu patient from Deoria.
Ward number one of Gandhi ward in King George’s Medical University (KGMU) has been divided into two enclosures, using curtains. Not unusual. But what is extraordinary is the fact that patients admitted in one half are treated normally while those in the other half, meant for H1N1 positive (swine flu) patients, struggle to manage things.
Those admitted in this section say getting treatment is not easy for swine flu patients as they are treated as untouchables. “More than the disease, it’s the untouchability that kills,” said an attendant with Baljeet Singh, a swine flu patient who hails from Deoria.
Singh’s wife said it was the one thing that pinched most. A couple of weeks ago, Singh got admitted to a private hospital in Deoria after he complained of fever, cough and breathlessness.
“But there was no relief and the fever was constant. Then we moved to Kanpur where he was treated as suspected swine flu patient and was later referred to KGMU,” she said.
At KGMU, she said things were under control but the behaviour of the paramedical staff was just unimaginable. “Nobody wants to come near a swine flu patient. There were times when we had to rush at least 10 to 15 times to the paramedical staff for petty things. It’s a struggle not only for us but for all those who are admitted in the swine flu section,” she added.
Another patient, lying adjacent to Singh, endorsed the senti- ment, blaming the paramedical staff of apathy. “Paramedical staff plays an important role as doctors are not around all the time. But they often refuse to come or avoid coming near us, treating us as untouchables,” the patient added.
He said the staffers should either be told about do’s and don’ts or be given proper masks to attend to the patients suffering from the swine flu.
“But not attending the patient is not a solution to the problem,” he said.
A few attendants said fear of the disease was so much that the family members of one of the patients had not visited him in the past three days.
“It is surprising that none of the family members visited the patient so far. It’s really inhuman,” another attendant said.
Things are no different with patients admitted on other beds and even in other hospitals where the secluded swine flu wards have been established.
So far, around 693 cases of swine flu and nine deaths have been reported from the state capital. Besides, the arrangements of isolation wards have been made in the Civil hospital, Balrampur hospital, Lohia hospital and KGMU.