In a tragic incident, a woman was forced to give birth on a handcart after an ambulance failed to arrive in time. According to the information received, the newborn was declared dead when the mother finally reached the hospital, prompting officials to take stringent action against health department authorities.
About the incident
Urmila Rajak, a resident of Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district, went into labor late on Friday night. With no ambulance in sight, her family was forced to take her to the hospital on a handcart. However, she delivered on her way to the hospital. Meanwhile, upon reaching the hospital, officials later stated that the baby had died in the womb approximately 24 hours before the incident only.
Significantly, Civil Surgeon Deeprani Israni clarified the delay in the ambulance reaching the victim's home. She stated that the ambulance arrived about 25 minutes after the woman's family had contacted the centralized emergency call center. “The family had to bring her to the main road from their residence in a narrow lane, which may have contributed to the delay,” she mentioned while also reiterating that ambulance bookings are managed through a centralized system, limiting district-level control.
Show-cause notice issued against authorities
Significantly, in the aftermath of the incident, Additional Collector Anshuman Raj confirmed that show-cause notices have been issued to several health department officials, and an investigation is underway to address the incident and assess any lapses in emergency response.
(With inputs from PTI)
