An ailing newborn, who was brought to a Kochi hospital from Lakshadweep on an air ambulance, died allegedly due to official apathy here on Sunday.
It was alleged that the air ambulance diverted route as per the instructions of the authorities concerned, wasting precious time and eventually resulting in the death of the infant.
The deceased was one of the twins born to Maleeha, wife of Muhammed Shafi, a resident of Androth island. She delivered the twins, a boy, and a girl, at the Rajiv Gandhi Specialty Hospital, Agatti, in Lakshadweep. As the boy was found to be having certain serious conditions at birth, the hospital authorities referred him to a private multi-specialty hospital in Kochi.
The hospital also arranged the air ambulance service, which was introduced recently to transfer patients from Lakshadweep to Kochi during an emergency. The child was accompanied by his father Shafi, grandfather Muhammed Kasim and a medical escort arranged by the hospital.
As the chopper was about to take off, the Lakshadweep administration instructed the pilot to take along four people, who had reached Agatti from Kerala on a flight, to Kavaratti before proceeding to Kochi with the newborn.
As a result, the chopper was diverted to Kavaratti with nine people on board even as the health condition of the child deteriorated. It took about 15 minutes for the air ambulance, which has a seating capacity of 10, to reach Kavaratti from Agatti. After dropping them, the chopper headed to Kochi and reached there at 1.10 am, late by about 45 minutes than the scheduled time.
As the child’s condition was critical and he required immediate care, medical escort Hussain directed the pilot to take him to the nearest hospital. However, by the time the chopper reached the Little Flower Hospital in Angamaly, the child had breathed his last. If the baby was taken to the hospital at least 10 minutes earlier, his life could have been saved, Hussain told Manorama.
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Two air ambulances have been allocated to Lakshadweep to transfer patients in times of an emergency. Crores of rupees have been spent annually to maintain the choppers so that advanced treatment is ensured to critically ill patients. The expenses for two-way journey come up to several lakhs. The fare fixed for transferring the patient is Rs 2,650, while persons accompany the patient will have to pay Rs 5,250 each. The medical escort can travel free of cost.
Earlier too, there had been several complaints of misuse of the facility by the administration. Three months ago, a patient with acute respiratory issue died after being denied the service. Reportedly, the air ambulance could not be provided to transfer the patient to Kochi as it was used for tourism purposes. The incident had triggered a huge public outcry.
Meanwhile, the Administrative Officer, Lakshadweep Office, Kochi, informed that there was no lapse on the part of the Lakshadweep administration in ensuring timely treatment to the infant. The official said that the patient was first taken to Kavaratti before being transferred to Kochi on another air ambulance.
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