The patient was being transferred from YCMH to Sassoon General Hospital
The ambulance did not stop and only returned to the spot after 90 seconds. About 90 seconds in, the ambulance can be seen returning to the spot. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Pune | Silver Rate in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune | Petrol Price in Pune | Diesel Price in Pune | CNG Price in Pune | LPG Price in Pune Stay updated with the latest Pune news.
“We have issued notices to the driver and staffer,” the hospital’s dean, Dr Rajendra Wable, said. A senior hospital official said the police often refer homeless patients to YCM; as they generally do not have caretakers, the police accompany them. In this case, Dr Wable said the patient was brought to the hospital for an infection and had to be referred to Sassoon as YCM did not have the necessary facilities. Other social media users were unforgiving in their assessment of the situation — Sharad Thopate said the patient was lucky that there was no vehicle following the ambulance; Purnima Kumbharkar alleged foul play; and Ramesh Raut called for a case of culpable homicide. Another user, Nadaf Hussain, said the patient’s homeless status in no way diminishes his right to live. MA Hussain, who runs a homeless shelter, Nivara, on behalf of PCMC, said YCM sends an average of three homeless people to the shelter every month. “Our team helps with the treatment and, later, in tracing their families,” Hussain said. Dr Abhijeet Sonawane, known for providing pro bono healthcare to the homeless, said the system failed the most vulnerable sections of the population. Even a hospital like Sassoon wouldn’t admit them without a caretaker,” he said.
The patient was being transferred from YCMH to Sassoon General Hospital The patient was being transferred from YCMH to Sassoon General Hospital The patient was being transferred from YCMH to Sassoon General Hospital The patient was being transferred from YCMH to Sassoon General Hospital The patient was being transferred from YCMH to Sassoon General Hospital The patient was being transferred from YCMH to Sassoon General Hospital Pune: An improperly secured stretcher bearing a homeless man fell out of a moving ambulance during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. By then, a crowd of onlookers had gathered and moved the patient, who was uninjured, to safety. The incident occurred right outside the PCMC-run Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial (YCM) Hospital in Pimpri, when the patient was being transferred to Sassoon General Hospital. A widely circulated video, purportedly showing the incident, drew widespread condemnation on social media and prompted YCM’s administration to initiate action. A police officer was also in the ambulance, as per protocol. The Sant Tukaramnagar police did not respond to a TOI query till the time of going to print. Subsequent statements made by senior hospital officials exposed serious lapses in the patient transport safety protocol — the stretcher’s wheels were not locked in place inside the ambulance and a staffer who was supposed to sit with the patient at the back instead was in the passenger seat. Worse still, the driver had no inkling that the patient slammed into the doors of the ambulance and fell out. In the video, bystanders can be seen moving the patient and stretcher to the side of the road. A man in police garb in the front seat can be heard saying that the rear door was not locked properly, while the driver is heard blaming the ward boy for not securing the stretcher properly. “Our system does not provide adequate support for the treatment and care of homeless people… when they meet with an accident, people are reluctant to help. Download the TOI App.
“It was the ambulance driver’s mistake. He should have checked whether the stretcher was properly locked before starting the vehicle,” one Dr Sanjaykumar Tikute wrote on Facebook.