The death of an elderly woman in Dehradun-bound Shatabdi Express from Delhi at Saharanpur on Sunday has once again highlighted the lack of medical facilities in moving trains. A resident of Subhash Nagar, Rajouri Garden, New Delhi, Prakashwanti (77) had boarded the train at Delhi in the morning for Saharanpur. She suffered a massive heart attack when the train was about to reach Saharanpur railway station and died before she could be provided any medical aid.
The in-charge of Government Railway Police (GRP), Saharanpur, Vinod Singh Sirohi, told 'The Pioneer' that Prakashwanti was accompanied by her two daughters and was seated in coach number C- 3 in Dehradun-bound Shatabdi Express. He said that one doctor was present in the train but he too could not do much. The woman was coming to Saharanpur to visit her brother Madan Pal, a resident of Behat Road in Saharanpur.
It is learnt that Prakashwanti complained of uneasiness and sweating at New Delhi railway station itself but she and her daughters choose to ignore the symptom which proved fatal for her.
The Senior Physician at the associated hospital of Government Doon Medical College (GDMC), Dr Pravin Panwar, said that heart patients should take special care while travelling and should compulsorily keep aspirin tablets along with them. Dr Panwar said that presence of a doctor in a moving train is of immense help to the patients. He admitted that in the absence of any special facilities and some benefit in ticket reservation most of the doctors prefer not to disclose that they are medical professionals while booking a rail ticket.
It is worth mentioning here that a technology start-up company, RailYatri.in had recently launched a medical emergency App for railway passengers. To avail the facility, the railway passengers should download this App in their mobile phones. The App determines the location of the user and provides a list of healthcare facilities at the upcoming stations.
The information provided through the App is not just limited to hospital names but also provides direction of the nearest health facility from the railway station, contact numbers of hospitals and ambulance. To download the medical emergency App the user should visit website www.rytr.in.
Unfortunately due to lack of awareness most of the train travellers fail to avail this facility. "The railways should ensure proper awareness about this App. It could well send a message on the mobile phone of every traveller so that he/ she can use it in case of an emergency,'' said R S Joshi, a retired army officer and frequent traveller.
He said that it is a matter of great concern that such incident occurred in one of the premier trains of the country. Joshi said if this is the State of availability of medical facility in Shatabdi then the plight of the passengers on other trains can well be imagined.