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Anupama succumbs to PGI’s negligence
Chandigarh, July 24
The tragedy that could have been averted had the CTU driver been careful and the PGI acted on time. Anupama’s death has ruined the world of helpless couple Amit and Kanika Sarkar, who were on the bedside of their only child when she breathed her last. Her blood pressure dipped and her heart failed. Doctors could not revive her and she died. The death of Anupama was almost imminent when she got infection of gas gangrene during her three-day stay in the preoperative ward waiting for surgery. Doctors attending upon her told that the infection had spread to her upper body parts and her chances of survival were assessed a mere 20 per cent after the surgery. Anupama, a student of Class XI at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 18, was injured on July 17 when she fell while boarding a CTU bus. Her leg got crushed under the tyre of the bus. Doctors treated her wound and after putting a dressing on it informed the family that she had to undergo a surgery that night only. However, doctors kept on postponing her surgery till July 20. The dressing on her wound was never changed which finally led to the spread of gas gangrene leading to amputation of her leg. This ultimately proved fatal for the hapless girl, alleged her parents. Despite a fracture in her leg, Anupama was perfectly fine and even doctors found her fit enough to postpone her surgery and take care of more serious patients, said her father Amit Sarkar. The doctors did not pay attention to her till her condition started deteriorating on July 19 night, he said. That night she was taken to the operation theatre, but due to excessive bleeding during previous two days, she could not bear anaesthesia and fell unconscious. The next day, it was detected that she had developed gas gangrene due to which her leg was amputated and she was went in a coma.
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‘We’ve lost everything’
Chandigarh, July 24 Kanika Sarkar, Anupama’s mother, was in a state of shock. She was incessantly crying. Inconsolable and devastated, she kept sitting beside her daughter screaming her heart out only to realise later that time had come to bid final farewell to her daughter. Anupama’s father Amit Sarkar said: “Whenever I came back from my office, I always found her at home and we would talk for hours. But now all that has been lost,” he rued. Breaking down in tears, he said: “My wife and I did not think of another child after Anupama was born. We have lost everything.” The body was taken to the cremation ground at Mani Majra where her father performed the last rites. Many from the UT Administration and Anupama’s school staff attended the cremation. One of Anupama’s neighbours, Anand, said: “If a VIP’s daughter was involved in an accident, she would have been treated immediately. But nobody cared for Anupama,” Others were heard saying that she was a well-behaved girl and she never came out her house without her mother’s permission. A bright future was put to end, they said. Her Aunt, who came from from Kolkata a few day ago, said the doctors did not changed her dressing, forget about the immediate surgery.
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‘Doctors humiliated me at PGI’
Chandigarh, July 24 Going by the chronology of events, delay in treatment was the only reason behind amputation of her leg followed by her death. Orthopaedics, who do not wish to be named, say had the surgery been performed on her soon after she was admitted to the hospital, not only would she have survived, but amputation too could have been avoided. Her mother Kanika Sarkar made a shocking claim that she had been requesting doctors from the moment her daughter was admitted to the PGI at 2:45 pm on July 17 for urgent medical attention as she was writhing in pain. “But I was humiliated by doctors on duty. They told me in an indifferent tone that there were many other patients like my daughter in the hospital,” she said. Her surgery was not performed in time and her dressing was also not changed for three days altogether, she claimed. It was only on July 20 when she was found suffering from gas gangrene that doctors panicked and she was wheeled in to the operation theatre only to breathe her last today due to the infection, she said. Even the PGI authorities in an official statement have confirmed that her surgery had been put off. Anupama was brought to the PGI at 2.45 pm on July 17 and was not operated upon the same day due to prior pending open fractures and complex trauma cases, the PGI has claimed. After initial dressing, she was shifted to the trauma preoperative ward. However, she was not operated upon the same night. The PGI justifies it to a huge rush of patients, who the hospital authorities claim were more serious than her. She was left unattended on July 18 and she bled throughout the night. The statement issued by the PGI even states the haemorrhage was noticed only on July 19. She was given additional compression dressing over the already dressed wound. Experts believe this additional compression could have led to gangrene due to blocking of oxygen supply. Anupama was transfused one unit of blood. Shockingly, she had lost so much blood on July 17 and 18 that she needed blood, but the premier medical institute did not seem to care. Her dressing was changed on July 20, a fact admitted by the PGI. It was on July 19 morning that hemorrhagic soakage of the dressing was noted and additional compression dressing over the dressing was done to control the blood. The PGI authorities, however, preferred to remain silent over the question that why the dressing was not changed on July 18 and what stopped the staff to change the dressing on July 19. On July 20, the patient got infected with gas gangrene which developed into sepsis leading to her death.
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We couldn’t have done more: PGI In a statement issued on Tuesday, a PGI spokesperson said Anupama was admitted to the PGI Emergency on July 17 at 2.45 pm. She had a runover injury on her left lower limb (open injury grade IIIb). She was resuscitated, the wound was thoroughly washed, dressed and splinted. After initial stabilisation, X-rays were done which revealed a supracondylar fracture of the left distal femur with intercondylar extension and fracture proximal tibia. Two units of blood were transfused on her. She was shifted to the trauma preoperative ward pending surgery by the same evening after resuscitation and stabilisation. At that time, there were nine seriously injured patients with open fractures already waiting for surgery (this is in addition to many cases of closed fractures and polytrauma awaiting surgery). She was put on the OT list as per the priority. She could not be operated upon the same night due to prior pending open fractures and complex trauma cases. Her wounds were dressed. In the morning of July 19, during rounds, hemorrhagic soakage of the dressing was noted and additional compression dressing over the dressing was done to control oozing. She was also transfused one unit of blood. She was taken for surgery on the night of July 19. However, during induction of anesthesia, she became haemodynamically unstable and was subsequently resuscitated by the night OT team. Her surgery was deferred due to her unstable condition and her splint and dressings were reapplied. She was monitored through the night and she maintained her blood pressure and saturation. Three units of blood were arranged and transfused. An ICU call was made for the takeover. However, due to unavailability of beds in the ICU, she was kept under observation in the wards. She was taken for surgery the next day and underwent amputation of left hip in the afternoon. Intraoperatively, she became haemodynamically unstable and was started on ionotropes and ventilator support. An ICU call was again made for takeover, but due to unavailability of beds, she could not get an ICU bed. She continued to maintain her vitals, but with medication. After she developed anuria, a nephrology consultation was sought and peritoneal dialysis was carried out. Again, an ICU call was made for takeover, but no beds were available. General surgery consultation was sought by the day team. The general surgery-unit II saw the patient in the night and advised that the patient may need debridement again when stable.At 4.46 am she suffered from a cardio respiratory arrest. Despite resuscitation and the best of our efforts, the patient could not be saved.
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‘Madam, will I survive?’
Chandigarh, July 24 “After I reached the spot, I was shocked to see her in a pool of blood. As I was talking her towards my car, she was repeatedly asking me whether she would survive. I responded her affirmatively, not knowing then that she would never come back,” the teacher said. A resident of Mauli Jagran, Anupama (16), had recently joined the school in commerce stream after passing her 10th standard examination from a Panchkula school. Her classmate Niharika said the whole class was shocked to hear the sad news of Anupama’s death this morning. “Even though we did not know her much because the session had recently started and Anupama had attended just five-six classes before her accident, all of us in the class extremely felt bad for her. We did not expect it,” she said. Another of her classmate Shivani said no one in the class was in a mood to talk to each other. “But, her death should not go waste. The administration should start new buses for school students and if possible separate buses for girls so that others don’t meet such a tragic fate. The CTU bus drivers should be warned that they must drive buses carefully,” she said Her class teacher Gurvinder Kaur said she was calling her attendance everyday in the hope that she would come back. She even called her in the class today. “Hearing the news of her death completely saddened me. I will be pained removing her name from the attendance register, she said. Other members of the school staff, including Principal Nirupama Krishan, too, had sombre reactions. Another schoolteacher said they did not expect her to meet such a tragic end at the PGI. “We thought she will lose her leg at the most. Her death is unfortunate and the loss can't be justified,” she said.
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Praying lips and helping hands for Anupama
Chandigarh, July 24 Trauma faced by Anupama and her family moved many persons, including students in the tricity, who thronged the hospital with their contribution to help the poor family. Anupama's father Amit Sarkar is employed with a private firm and earns about Rs 6,000 per month. He had to borrow money from his friends for the treatment of his only child. However, learning the plight of the family, the employees of Infotech, where he used to work earlier, collected Rs 50,000 to help him. Another woman also deposited an unspecified amount with a chemist at the PGI so that medicines can be bought for Anupama. Another good Samaritan contacted The Tribune offering to pay for her treatment at a private super specialty hospital. The former schoolmates of Anupama at Gyandeep School in Sector 17, Panchkula, also collected Rs 19,000 for her treatment. Today also some school students reached the PGI to handover Rs 4,000 to his father, only to be told that she was no more. The CTU staff also collected Rs 31,000 for the help of the poor family. The driver of the bus from which she fell also contributed Rs 10,000.
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Visiting PGI a nightmare
Chandigarh, July 24 In addition to standing in long queues for hours at different departments, they are compelled to walk almost a kilometre to get a blood sample tested or procure a ‘no dues certificate’. Attendants of indoor patients admitted to Advanced Eye Centre, Cardiac Care Centre, Advanced Paediatric Centre and the Nehru Hospital building, requiring the diagnosis of endocrinology blood samples, are first need to go to the laboratory on the third floor of the research block B, located at a distance of over half a kilometre. The harassment of the attendants does not stop here. The fee for this test is to be deposited at the fee counters at the Nehru Hospital building, which is situated at a distance of over 200 metres. The long queues at these places only exhaust the patience of the already harassed attendants. For getting a discharge slip one is required to get a ‘no dues certificate’. And to get this certificate, attendants, including elderly persons, are expected to walk all the way to the Nehru Hospital building. And they can count themselves lucky if they are asked for a photocopy of the certificate, for which they would have to walk further to the adjoining building of the new OPD. With no effective internal transport system available, the attendants have no option but to walk the long distances, even in inclement weather.
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Data of 6,000 students sent to CTU
Chandigarh, July 24 The CTU officials said while the students in the city would be their main focus, since they comprise a large chunk of commuters travelling by CTU buses, they would also cover the city’s peripheral areas so that the students coming from there would not face much hassle in reaching their schools or colleges. While mourning Anupama’s death, CTU GM SP Parmar said her death was a big human mistake and they were taking many steps to avoid such a tragedy in future. Foremost among them, he said, was that they were planning to advance the timing of around 30 or 40 buses by half an hour, both in the morning as well as in the afternoon. Besides, the frequency of the bus routes will also be increased wherever it is required, he added. Parmar said: “Routes have not been finalised yet since we have received the data today, but hopefully the whole plan will be chalked out soon.” As the driver’s negligence is said to be one of the reasons behind Anupama’s death, he said from next week we will be making sure that all the CTU drivers get their proper medical check-up done within six months. We have also plans to send a batch of five or six drivers every week to Tata’s driver training centre at Lucknow where they will be taught various aspects of driving, including how to behave with the public. “The department is also in the process of procuring 98 buses, and the deal is at final stage,” he added. He said the department was also thinking of introducing passes for the air-conditioned buses at a bit higher cost so that those who could afford it could avail themselves of the service. This proposal would be discussed with the higher authorities soon, he said. He also did not decline the possibility of starting separate buses for girl students Meanwhile DPI (Schools) Upkar Singh said the department had planned a joint meeting of cluster heads of schools, CTU officials and NGOs on July 26 which would be followed by another meeting the next week to chalk out the strategy to adopt safety measurements for students.
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Drivers find it difficult to handle low-floor buses
Chandigarh, July 24 In the last one year, 145 low-floor buses have been involved in minor and major accidents on the city roads. Last year in October, Vikas Kumar (13), a class-VI student, was crushed to death under the wheels of a CTU bus at Colony Number 4. “In the fleet of 200 low-floor buses, the accident rate was alarmingly high. On the other hand, around 35 front-engine buses being plied in the city and on long-distance routes have been involved in accidents,” pointed out an official of the transport department. Enquiries reveal that apart from a lack of training to the drivers to handle these low-floor buses, handling of the 13 metre-long buses had emerged as the primary reason for the accidents. Officials admit that in many cases, the accidents take place at traffic junctions and rotaries while manoeuvring the long buses. A number of such congested points have been brought to the notice of the engineering department in the past. Another major design problem, which is proving dangerous for passenger while boarding the low-floor buses, is the position of the entry gate ahead of the rear wheels. “The entry gate should be after the read wheels,” said Bhupinder Singh, president of the CTU Workers Union. The union has been pointing out several flaws in the design of low-floor buses.
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CTU bus victim who was saved by PGI
Chandigarh, July 24 Recalling the incident, the 15-year-old class XI student said: "I was saved by the PGI. Just like Anupama, I fell off the overloaded bus soon after I boarded it from Sector 17. I was immediately taken to a hospital in Sector 16 from where I was referred to the PGI. I spent more than four months in the hospital, had several fractures in the leg and underwent three surgeries," she said.
Speaking out
Subhash Chawla,
Congress Councillor Raj Bala Malik, Mayor,Chandigarh. Negligence can not be expected at a health institute like the PGI. The authorities must take steps so that such incidents are not
repeated Surinder Singh Baiji, A sportsman
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Power plays hide-and-seek
Mohali, July 24 HS Boparai, additional superintending engineer, said, “The power cuts are being affected due to a gap between the demand and supply. However, he added that only scheduled power cuts were being imposed in the town. On the other hand, the residents claimed that there was no electricity for at least 10 hours yesterday. Even during the night, the power remained suspended for at least three hours. As the power was playing hide-and-seek, we spent sleepless night, said Paramjit Singh Kahlon, a resident of Phase VII. Like many, Sneha from Phase IIIB2 complained that due to the repeated power cuts, their inverter, too, gave up last night. The power scenario is worst these days, said Sneha. The residents also complained of power fluctuation, resulted into damage of several electrical equipment. Similarly, the situation is worst in the peripheral areas of the town. Notably, the miffed residents of Balongi and Kharar had come down on roads last week and blocked the Chandigarh-Kharar highway during night due to the long power cuts.
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Youth ends life
Chandigarh, July 24 The deceased, Himanshu Rai, is son of Jagdish Rai, joint registrar at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In a suicide note, recovered from his pocket, Himanshu claimed that he was under mental tension for the last few days. Himanshu was a second-year BA student of Khalsa College. When he failed to return to his Sector 22 residence last night, his parents lodged a missing report in Sector 17 police station. His parents had rented a house in Sector 41 and it was vacated only two days back. Himanshu went to that house yesterday and allegedly tied a nylon rope to a ceiling fan and hung himself. Parents of the deceased, initially, claimed it was a case of murder, but the police has ruled out any foul play as the door of the house was locked from inside and a suicide note was also recovered. "We are investigating. It is a clear case of suicide and we are finding out
the exact reason," said Inspector Charanjeet Singh, SHO, Sector 39 police station.
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Infotech fails to take action against erring officials
Chandigarh, July 24 The officials allowed the bidder to bid for the site without depositing the minimum 10 per cent earnest money. Against the earnest money of Rs 6.20 crore, the bidder had deposited Rs 4 crore. After the bidder failed to deposit the remaining amount, Infotech forfeited the bid money deposited by him. When the bidder went to the court contending that the act of forfeiture by Infotech was contrary to rules, the corporation stated the bidder had violated the contract and the forfeiture was justified. In its meeting held in August 2011, however, the board of directors of the corporation had decided to initiate a disciplinary action against the erring officials who had auctioned the 1.52-acre freehold commercial site at Information Technology Park in Sector 67, Mohali, without accepting appropriate earnest money. Despite the court ruling, the corporation has failed to initiate any disciplinary action against its officials. As per standard practice, 10 per cent of the bid money has to be deposited at the fall of hammer. If the 10 per cent money is deposited at the time of auction, the auction has to be declared null and void. Incidentally, the corporation had brought down the reserve price from Rs 60 crore to Rs 45 crore in the second bid and then to Rs 35 crore in the final auction. In the end, the site was sold for Rs 2 crore more than its original reserve price. The district president of the RTI Activist Federation, Kuljeet Singh Walia, said the officials and the bureaucrats responsible for the anomaly should be taken to task and a vigilance probe should be conducted.
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Road gullies lie chocked despite Mayor’s visit
Chandigarh, July 24 On July 20, on the Mayor's visit to various sectors of the city along with MC officials, residents of Sector 40 showed her various spots in the area where water had accumulated and road gullies were choked. Following this, the Mayor ordered the accompanying officials to drain out the water and clean up all such gullies at the earliest. General Secretary of the Resident Welfare Association of Sector 40 SK Khosla said the moment the Mayor left the area to visit other places in the city, the officers and labour accompanying her left too. "Despite several requests to the authorities concerned, nobody turned up to clean the road gullies and they remain as they were before her visit," Khosla said, adding, "This proves how seriously the orders of the Mayor were taken by the officials." This is not just the story of Sector 40 but of other sectors too where the Mayor paid recent visit. Most of the road gullies had not been cleaned by the civic body.
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Auction for vanity numbers on August 3
Mohali, July 24 The reserve price for the rest of the vanity numbers would be Rs 1,000. Half of the reserve price of any number has to be submitted in the shape of a bank draft in favour of the DTO, SAS Nagar, at the office till 5 pm to participate in the auction, said Karan Singh.
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Ban on truck operators’ unions sought
Mohali, July 24 MIA president Anurag Aggarwal told Roojam that “gunda raj” had allegedly been unleashed by the unions who had raised transportation charges between 50 per cent and 70 per cent. The Deputy Commissioner asked district transport official to look into the matter and take necessary action.
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Mohali to be developed as model city
Mohali, July 24 Presiding over the first meeting of the committee, Mann exhorted members to meet people of the area to get their suggestions before starting any work. We have to work according to the growing need of the people, so their suggestions would enable us to do better job,” said Mann. He added that as Mohali was the gateway of Punjab, it would not only be beautified but also developed as the model city with all modern facilities.
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Mohali administration removes encroachments
Mohali, July 24 According to sources, encroachers have grabbed the land after filling a pond of the village. On complaint of some residents of the village, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Varun Roojam deputed officials, including naib tehsildar Vivek Nirmohi and BDPO Nishan Singh, to act on the complaint. Today, the administration’s team along with police force reached the spot and removed the encroachment. “It was a peaceful drive”, said Roojam, adding that strict action would be taken against the encroachers.
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Havan marks beginning of new session
Chandigarh, July 24 College Principal Dr Puneet Bedi said the ceremony was aimed at infusing a sense of devotion into the students and to introduce them to the value system of the college. — TNS
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The blame of this unfortunate death falls upon the CTU bus driver and the PGI
doctors.
If the PGI authorities do not take any lesson from this incident such mishaps will continue in future also and we will keep losing brilliant
students.
I know mere words may offer little comfort at this tragic time, but my deepest feelings of sympathy lie with her
family.