Baby suffers brain bleed, waits hours outside:8-month-old girl kept in ambulance in Indore after referral from Khandwa with no ventilator available

An eight-month-old baby girl with bleeding in her brain did not get timely treatment in Indore on Thursday, even though her parents brought her urgently for help. They could not find a ventilator for hours, despite going from one government hospital to another. The child had to stay on a ventilator inside the 108 ambulance itself. A ventilator became available only after about five hours. Her condition is still critical. The baby, Siddhi, is the daughter of Nitesh Dangode from Hira village in Pandhana (Khandwa). Her parents had already kept her admitted for a week at the government hospital in Khandwa. When her condition became worse on Thursday, they left for Indore at 11 am with her in the 108 ambulance. Ventilators were not available even in other government hospitals Around 2 PM, they reached MY Hospital. Upon examination there, she was sent to the Chest Ward. There were 20 ventilators there, and all were occupied. After this, the child was sent to the PICU on the second floor, only to find out that it was a children’s surgery unit, where only children undergoing surgery are admitted. Ambulance 108 staff Jai said that they took her to the government PC Sethi Hospital located at GPO, but no ventilator was found vacant there either. It was informed that this is a unit for children up to one month old, and all five ventilators were occupied by other children. After this, the Ambulance 108 staff took her to the government MTH Hospital, only to find out that this too was a unit only for newborn babies. Returned to MY Hospital again, the child remained in the ambulance Meanwhile, the staff of Ambulance 108 again brought her to MYH and kept inquiring about the availability of ventilators in other government hospitals from there. During this time, the ambulance remained parked in the Chest Center premises, and the child was on a ventilator inside it. The ambulance staff called doctors from the Chest Ward, who came out and checked her condition in the ambulance itself and managed her. During this time, the matter came to the attention of Superintendent Dr. Ashok Yadav. He coordinated, and the child was placed on a ventilator in the new Chest Ward of the government Chacha Nehru Children’s Hospital. During this period, the parents and ambulance staff remained distressed for about 5 hours. Her condition remains critical. Brain complication after vomiting and loose motion The child’s father, Nitesh, said that he has twin daughters, and one of them, Siddhi, has been unwell for the past 8 days. She was initially admitted to a hospital in Khandwa due to vomiting, diarrhea, and a brain complication. After bringing her to Indore, there was a lot of trouble for 5 hours here, because no government hospital had a vacant ventilator. I don’t know the names of the hospitals here, but we had to visit 5 hospitals. Finally, the baby was put on a ventilator at Chacha Nehru Hospital. Currently, her condition is serious. Baby’s brain is bleeding Dr. Nirbhay Mehta, Deputy Superintendent of Government Chacha Nehru Children’s Hospital, said that when the baby was brought in, her condition was very serious. Her brain is bleeding, due to which the situation is still critical. She is being continuously monitored. ​