A two-month-old infant died due to suffocation after the door of the ‘108 Ambulance Service’ that was carrying him to a hospital malfunctioned and failed to open on time at Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Hospital here on Tuesday.
The Ambulance operators tried to open the door for a couple of hours but failed to open it on time. When father of the infant Ambika Kumar wanted to break the windows of the vehicle, he was told he couldn't do so as it was a ‘Government property’. The infant died inside the vehicle.
The infant needed a cardiac surgery and was being taken to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Hospital enroute to Satya Sai Hospital in Naya Raipur after his parents had consulted doctors at AIIMS in Delhi.
The parents of the infant had taken a train to Raipur and had dialled '108 Sanjeevani Express' to shift the baby to the hospital.
Station House In-charge Maudha Para, Uttam Kumar Sahu informed that the infant of Pratima Devi and Ambika Singh was brought to the city for treatment of cardiac ailment from Gaya in Bihar.
Earlier they approached All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, but finding that treatment at the hospital was costly they preferred to come to Raipur.
They contacted 108 Ambulance service after reaching Raipur railway station and on the way the Ambulance stopped for a while at Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Hospital on way to Satya Sai Hospital in Naya Raipur.
The door of the ambulance automatically got locked and the infant was trapped inside it for almost two hours. later, the glass window was broken to bring the infant outside but it was too late as the doctors after examining him declared him brought dead.
“The condition of infant was already critical and believing that the death as a ‘fate’, the parents of the infant didn’t approach police for lodging a complaint”, the police official said. If they had approached us, it was a matter of Section 304 but since the parents went back without approaching us after cremating the baby here, we till now has not filed an FIR, he informed.
leader of Opposition T.S. Singhdeo while terming the incident as sheer negligence had demanded for lodging an immediate FIR.
Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Hospital Superintendent, Vivek Chaudhary too has handed over a letter to the police regarding negligence in duty by the Ambulance operator Vikram Singh and against the driver of the Ambulance, police said.
Chief Minister Raman Singh reacting to the incident said that stern action would be taken by department.