Lab staff continues work, loses father
laboratory technician at Wada’s Rural Hospital (RH) in Palghar district was unable to help his father, who suffered a heart attack, because the former was working on swabs of suspected Covid-19 patients.
On Tuesday, lab technician Prahlad Patil, 39, was working on the samples from 22 swabs of suspected Covid-19 patients.he was wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), which includes goggles, a face shield, a mask, a head cover and gloves, and when his phone rang repeatedly, Patil ignored the calls since to take a call, he would have had to take off some of the PPE and so risk infection from the swabs.
At the time, he had no idea that the calls were from his relatives in Bhopivali village, who were trying to reach him because his father Amrut, 68, had suffered a heart attack and urgently needed medical attention. When Patil took a break three hours later, he learnt that his father was seriously ill and informed Dr Pradeep Jadhav, superintendent at RH. As he was leaving RH, he learnt his father had passed away. “I was unable to save my father, when it was expected from me, but I was also busy testing samples at the laboratory,” said Patil. He doesn’t regret the choice that he inadvertently made. “I had a duty to perform,” he said.
Dr Jadhav said Patil is an inspiration. “If Patil wanted, he could have attended to his father. But he continued to work,” he said, adding that Patil had called right after his father’s funeral and offered to return to work. “We are sad he was not able to help his family, but he is an inspiration to all medical professionals ,” said Dr Jadhav.