Mayurbhanj: A couple in Odisha’s tribal-dominated Mayurbhanj district claimed that their one-year-old son, who needed medical attention, died due to a long lunch break taken by the ambulance driver.
Niranjan Behera and his wife Gita from Ambajoda village under the Betanati police station had admitted their one-year-old son to PRM Medical College and Hospital in Baripada town on Sunday after developing diarrhoea-like conditions. As its condition worsened, the hospital authorities referred the baby to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack on Monday.
As per reports, the incident took place when the infant was being shifted to Sishu Bhavan in Cuttack on Monday. The ambulance had barely travelled three to four kilometres when the driver, pharmacist and attendant got down and went for lunch in a roadside hotel.
The ambulance staff halted at Manchabandha on NH 18, around 6 km from Baripada, for lunch, the boy's mother Geeta Behera said.
Though the three promised to have a quick lunch and return to resume the journey soon, they took around 90 minutes at the eatery and the boy collapsed because of the undue delay, alleged the mother of the child.
Despite being informed about the condition of the infant, the ambulance staff paid little attention to her plea. The three finished lunch and returned after around 90 minutes and the baby boy had become motionless by then, she said, adding "my son's life could have been saved had the ambulance staff finished lunch fast."
"There is sheer negligence on the part of the ambulance staff. They did not even administer saline to the child when he was battling for life," she claimed.