Pedestrian’s death brings to fore flaws in South Goa District Hospital’s emergency healthcare system

When The Goan called up the Hospicio South Goa District Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Rajendra Borkar to shed light on Saturday night’s incident, he pointed out that the injured pedestrian was shifted to the GMC by the 108 ambulance that came from Shiroda.

When questioned why the patient had to wait for the 108 ambulance from Shiroda to come to take the patient to the GMC, Dr Borkar said, “the 108 ambulance service has its own system in place. May be at that relevant time, ambulances from Margao or from nearby areas were all preoccupied. But, when citizens brought the matter to my notice last night, I checked with the ambulance service and they sent the Shiroda ambulance to shift the patient to GMC,” Dr Borkar added.

Asked to comment on the claims of delay in shifting the patient to the GMC, Dr Borkar said the hospital is required to follow the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in place in reference to road accident victims. “South Goa District Hospital has no trauma unit in the hospital. Hence, whenever road accident victims are brought to the casualty, the medical team studies the severity of the case and starts the stabilisation process. The patient needs to be stabilised before being referred to the GMC, Bambolim. In the meantime, the hospital calls the 108 ambulance service to shift the patient because such patients need to be shifted in a well-equipped ambulance,” he added.

In the instant case, however, claims are made that the patient could not be immediately shifted to the GMC for want of an ambulance. “When the casualty team concludes that the patient’s injuries are serious and need further treatment, they call for a 108 ambulance. It is only after the 108 ambulance arrives at the hospital, the patient is shifted to the GMC,” he admitted, while admitting that the 108 ambulance services are not under the control of the district hospital.

Social worker Prabhav Nayak, however, pointed out that one more life lost due to non-availability of ambulance and advanced healthcare at South Goa District Hospital. He said loud talks and bogus assurances have ruined the functioning of the district hospital which has become a referral centre, adding that Health Minister Vishwajit Rane must take responsibility and act or resign.

“Although the patient was swiftly shifted to South Goa District Hospital, he succumbed to injuries due to lack of advanced healthcare facilities and delay in arrival of ambulance to shift him to Goa Medical College,” he said.

He added: “I was present at the hospital at night where nothing was in place. Doctors on duty appeared helpless. If this is the situation at SGDH when influential people including local MLA’s son was present, one can imagine the horror faced by common people.”

Margao Congress leader Savio Coutinho has called for streamlining the 108 ambulance service so that there’s no undue delay in shifting the patients, either from the accident spot to South Goa District Hospital or from South Goa District Hospital to the GMC, Bambolim.

Fatal accident exposes insufficient ambulance resources at hosp

MARGAO: As the issue of ambulances with Hospicio hospital a subject matter of debate, post-Saturday night’s fatal accident, it may seem strange but true that the 350-bedded district hospital is equipped with only two dedicated ambulances at its disposal.

In the absence of a dedicated fleet of ambulances, Hospicio is totally dependent on the 108 ambulance service catering to the entire district.

Healthcare workers attached to Hospicio admitted that the district hospital is in need of dedicated fleet of minimum 4-5 ambulances to cater to the growing requirements of shifting patients to the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim in times of emergencies.

Inquiries by The Goan have revealed that Hospicio’s fleet of ambulance have not increased after the government-run hospital was shifted to the imposing district hospital building three years ago.

It is revealed that of the two in-house ambulances, Hospicio sources informed that the hospital is handicapped if one of these ambulances heads to the GMC with patient or patients. Reason: “When the ambulance ferries the patients to the GMC, more often than not, the ambulance does not return back immediately. In some cases, doctors at the GMC will ask the driver to wait to transport the patient back to Hospicio after treatment. In normal circumstances, the ambulance will get stuck up at Bambolim and chances of quick return of the ambulance to Margao are remote.”

To tide over the situation, sources said that Hospicio’s fleet of in-house ambulances needs to be strengthened to minimum 4-5. “One needs to understand that Hospicio is a secondary hospital and not a tertiary hospital like the GMC, Bambolim. Since Hospicio has no trauma unit nor is the hospital equipped with state-of-the-art neurology department, the need arises for shifting of serious patients on a daily basis,” an official said.

The official added: With no dearth of patients availing facilities at the Hospicio and the number of road accidents across the State on the rise, either Hospicio should be equipped with a full-fledged trauma unit to treat accident victims, which is a remote possibility, or tone up the ambulance requirement for quick shifting of patients to the GMC.”