Bargarh: A critically ill patient was reportedly treated with the help of a mobile phone flashlight due to power outage at the district headquarters hospital (DHH) in Odisha’s Bargarh in a reflection of the shape of health care services in the state.
The incident, reported to have taken place on Tuesday night, sparked anger among people after a video of the scene went viral.
As per information, a patient with ventilator support required immediate attention. As there was a power outage, the doctors at the hospital had to provide treatment with the mobile phone flashlight. It was alleged that the hospital was under darkness for a few minutes.
Rajesh Bariha, son of the patient claimed that his father’s condition deteriorated when the oxygen supply was disrupted following power outage
. He reportedly has breathing difficulty for nearly half an hour before nurses rushed in for immediate attention. They had to manually administer oxygen from a cylinder with the help of a mobile phone torch light.
Sources said the hospital does not have an automatic power generator. The problem persists for a long time when the man operating the generator happens to be away.
Dismissing the allegation, Medical Superintendent D K Dutta said that the diesel generator was switched on within a minute of power outage. The generator has to be manually started in the event of a power outage in the absence of an automatic system. This time around the generator was started within a minute.
It may be recalled that SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack was without power supply for nearly 24 hours in October last year, severely affecting healthcare services.