An FIR has been registered against the 108 ambulance service-cum-cluster leader, driver and technician at the Patamda police station (PS) regarding the death of a 65-year-old patient in a 108 ambulance lacking an oxygen cylinder while being taken to Patamda community health centre, people aware of the development said on Tuesday.
Event Context
It has now come to light that only two of the 14 functional ambulances in East Singhbhum district have oxygen cylinders available on board.
“An FIR has been registered against the 108 ambulance service cluster leader Alok Kumar, driver Nilesh Kumar and technician Sujit Kumar under section 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) for death due to negligence. The FIR was registered based on a complaint by Patamda community health centre (CHC) in-charge Dr Rajiv Kumar Singh. Further investigation is ongoing,” Bishnu Charan Bhokta, Patamda PS officer-in-charge (OC), told HT on Tuesday.
East Singhbhum district civil surgeon Dr Sahir Pal said that a show-cause notice has also been served on the 108 ambulance service provider agency Samanya Foundation in this regard.
“We have lodged an FIR and served a notice on the agency over the incident in which a patient requiring oxygen allegedly died on the way to Patamda CHC because there was no oxygen cylinder in the 108 ambulance. The agency has been asked to respond within two days, explaining why the ambulance was not equipped with an oxygen cylinder and clarifying other irregularities. The absence of oxygen in an ambulance is a matter of grave negligence and concern and cannot be tolerated,” Dr Sahir Pal told HT on Tuesday.
Santosh Kumar Kumbhkar (65) died on the way from Jorsa village to Patamda CHC, barely 15 km away, on Saturday evening after the 108 ambulance allegedly ran out of oxygen support as it was not equipped with an oxygen cylinder, and one of its tyres got punctured midway.
Only 14 of 38 ambulances functional; just two have oxygen.
Meanwhile, officials said the 108 ambulance service in East Singhbhum district itself was on the “ventilator”, with only 14 of the 38 ambulances allotted to the district currently functional.
“Twenty-four of the 38 ambulances are lying defunct. Only the 108 ambulances operating from Jamshedpur Sadar Hospital (JSH) and Haldipokhar are equipped with oxygen. None of the other 12 functional 108 ambulances has an emergency kit or oxygen cylinders. If a patient’s condition deteriorates on the way to the hospital, even primary treatment is not possible, let alone oxygen support,” an official said on condition of anonymity.
As per the prescribed norms, every ambulance must have trained paramedical staff or a doctor, an oxygen cylinder, a ventilator, blood pressure and ECG machines, a first-aid kit, life-saving medicines and a stretcher.
Ambulance drivers said the condition of the 14 functional ambulances was also poor. “Even the fans do not work, let alone the air-conditioner. Most of these ambulances can travel only 20-25 km at a stretch. We are always worried when a patient has to be taken to RIMS, Ranchi, as the ambulances can break down at any time,” one of the drivers said.
Match Outlook
Samanya Foundation’s Jharkhand regional manager, Yogesh Kumar Singh, could not be reached for comment despite repeated phone calls, text messages and voice messages to his mobile phone.
