Utorda accident death possibly due to fault of Bike Ambulance Staff: Complainants

MARGAO: If you or your loved one met with an accident, would you put your life in the hands of a Bike Ambulance staff who has no knowledge on how to administer first-aid till the ambulance arrives or does not know how to control the situation? Herald investigates the incident which took place along the Majorda-Utorda road on August 31 wherein a 22-year-old man died as he could have been saved had there been a paramedic staff by his side.

When the man met with the accident, the people who witnessed the incident called 108 emergency services. A Bike Ambulance, driven by one staff reportedly by name of Sander Takekar arrived on the scene. By the time around 8-10 people gathered at the site, including a nurse. The BA staff put an oximeter on his finger and checked his blood pressure. The BA staff didn’t turn the victim on his side which would have helped keep his air passage open.

People around felt that the BA staff didn’t know what he was doing. He tested the victim’s sugar and found that it had gone down. However, the BA staff didn’t take action. When the nurse suggested that he should be given glucose, the paramedic said that he’ll have to call the office and take instruction. When someone suggested checking the pulse, they looked at the pulse oximeter and found that the battery was dead.

People at the site said that he looked nervous. When he was asked whether he had oxygen, the BA staff said yes but he didn’t have the suction apparatus.

In frustration, the nurse yelled at him to get the bike close to the victim so that the oxygen could be given to him. When he did that, the oxygen mask couldn’t reach the floor so the people had to carry the victim up and make him sit on the bike so that the mask could be put on his face.

 The nurse then asked the BA staff to do CPR. The witnesses said BA staff clearly wasn’t trained to do CPR since he was pumping his fist rapidly on his chest instead of a slow steady rhythm. One person even asked him whether he was beating a chicken. The nurse took over and did the CPR but by then the victim had stopped breathing and had no pulse.

When the ambulance came, they didn’t have a defibrillator. The witnesses say that even though the ambulance looked brand new, they didn’t have ECG leads and therefore they couldn’t use the brand new looking ECG machine. The staff of a nearby 5-star hotel who witnessed the event said they have a defibrillator in the hotel. He rushed and brought it and then asked the BA staff to put the defibrillator but the BA staff replied “Lagana nahi ata (I don’t know how to use it)”.

The ambulance then carried the victim to the hospital. The 5-star hotel staff followed the ambulance. The people at the site called the police and made them do the panchanama. When the Verna police investigated why the oxygen equipment was not working, the police used a spanner and turned the knob of the oxygen tank and released the oxygen. The BA staff did not know that the knob/valve of the tank had to be released for giving oxygen to the victim.

Nine people signed and submitted a written complaint to the police stating that they feel that the patient could be saved but possibly died due to the fault of the BA staff and faulty equipment.