Chhattisgarh: 5-yr-old girl dies after ventilator cylinder runs out of oxygen

A case of negligence has come to the fore in Chhattisgarh where police reports have confirmed that a five-year-old girl died on August 27 after the cylinder attached to her ventilator support system ran out of oxygen while she was being shifted to another hospital 160 kilometres away in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar division.

Bijapur Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr B R Pujari said the incident took place when the minor, identified as Bulbul Kudiyam, upon being diagnosed with severe pneumonia and on ventilator support, was being shifted to Jagdalpur Medical College Hospital in Bastar district from Bijapur district hospital.

“The girl, who is a resident of Toynar village, had fallen ill at her ashram school in nearby Matwada village and was admitted in Bijapur district hospital on August 22,” Dr Pujari told news agency PTI.

He said, “It was decided on Sunday night, to shift the girl to Jagdalpur, around 160 km from Bijapur, as her condition had turned critical.”

Dr Pujari added that the oxygen in the cylinder ran out by the time the ambulance reached Tokapal village in Bastar. Kudiyam was declared dead on arrival by doctors of the Jagdalpur Medical College Hospital.

“Generally it requires one oxygen cylinder to shift patients from Bijapur to Jagdalpur. We will investigate how it got exhausted so quickly,” Dr Pujari said.

Upon being questioned if a medical technician was travelling in the ambulance, Dr. Pujari said, “The hospital’s sole 108 ambulance with a technician was on duty elsewhere. Hence, the girl was shifted in another ambulance without a technician.”

“If the driver had contacted Bijapur health officials in time, they would have arranged for an oxygen cylinder from nearby ambulance services,” he said.

“The ambulance driver had reportedly contacted staff at Tokapal’s local government hospital for a replacement oxygen cylinder but was allegedly refused,” said the father of the child, Chamru Kudiyam, while adding that negligence by the hospital lead to his daughter’s death. “The oxygen exhausted in the cylinder when the ambulance was nearing Tokapal. The driver had tried to arrange for another cylinder from Tokapal hospital but staff there refused. There was no technician in the ambulance either,” Chamru told reporters.

He went on to accuse his child’s ashram school authorities for not providing timely treatment to his daughter.

Bijapur Collector K D Kunjam said that the CMHO had been directed to probe the incident and submit a report.

He said, “Authorities at Matwada ashram school had also been asked to give an explanation about the treatment given to the child when she fell ill there.”

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