Bengaluru: A toddler, who suffered critical head injuries after falling from a two-storey building on Monday, breathed her last after two prominent hospitals in the city denied treatment.
The incident took place on Monday when Gagana, the younger daughter of Venkatesh and Suma from Narayan Swamy Garden on J.C. Road, fell from the balcony of their house on the first floor around 10.15 am. Venkatesh was at work, while Suma was busy in the kitchen on the second floor when the child crashed head first and fractured her skull. Immediately she was taken to the St Martha’s hospital with the help of neighbours. But the hospital provided her only the first-aid and asked the parents to take her to Nimhans as they did not have neurosurgeons. But Nimhans too denied admission, saying that they did not have ventilators to stabilise the child.
Suma and Venkatesh pleaded with the staff for an ambulance with a ventilator and rushed her to Indira Gandhi Hospital, where the child was treated for over an hour in the ambulance as this healthcare facility too did not have the ventilator.
Venkatesh alleged that when they came to Indira Gandhi Hospital, the doctors shooed them away. It was only after a few local residents, who saw the parents fighting to save their daughter, informed the media and the police that the doctors attended on her.
A team of policemen from Jayanagar police station had been stationed at the hospital to maintain the law and order situation.
Speaking to sources, Dr Asha Benakappa, Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, said, “The child came to us with a small referral note from Nimhans asking us to send the child for ventilation. The moment that request was received we started looking at the logistics of arranging for a ventilator as we have 11 ventilators and all were full.”
“It takes time. We cannot immediately just put a child on the ventilator. After arranging for a ventilator we had to clean the bed and follow other health protocols of admission, so that infection is not spread from the previous child. In practical terms, there has been no delay from our end,” she said. If the reports are found true, we will take strict action against those guilty” she said.
