In a video that has surfaced from Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha district, a body falling off from an ambulance on the road can be seen, while the vehicle was on its way out of Vidisha Medical College. The incident was witnessed by families waiting outside, adding to their anxieties.
The ambulance was carrying bodies of deceased COVID patients for cremation as COVID protocol doesn’t allow district administration to hand over bodies to the families for their last rites.
Trigger Warning: Disturbing visuals
The incident led to further panic among relatives of COVID patients, as the hospital was said to be running low on medical oxygen. Vidisha Medical College is the only COVID-dedicated care centre in the district. Relatives of COVID patients have been barred from entering the hospital.
Currently, the hospital has 252 admitted patients in the medical college’s 310-bed hospital. Shortage of oxygen was reported on Thursday night, following which District Collector Pankaj Jain reached the hospital and later said, “The situation was brought under control and the hospital did not have to shift to jumbo cylinders as the refilling tank arrived in time,” The Indian Express reported.
Dean of the Medical College Sunil Nandeshwar was quoted as saying, “The incident occurred this morning when the hospital staff were taking the bodies for cremation. The ambulance was old, donated by an NGO and the door broke leading to the situation.”
The Medical College was under construction and yet to be opened. However, because of the rising cases, the hospital was converted into a COVID care centre.
Jain had further explained that a dedicated COVID hospital is a micro containment zone because of which all bodies are being cremated as per the COVID protocol.
He said, “None of the bodies are being handed back to families including those suspected or brought dead on arrival.”
Meanwhile, a help desk has been put up outside the hospital to convey all patients’ information to their relatives.
The dean added that only in some critical cases, relatives are allowed to go meet the patients for a short time, after wearing a PPE kit and N95 masks.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
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