IE : In Mumbai now, traffic’s a killer : Sept 28, 2007
Doctors claim 5-10 patients die every month as ambulances can’t reach them to hospital on time, police no help either
SWATEE KHER & SMITA NAIR
SEPTEMBER 27
IT was around 9 in the morning of Dahi Handi that Vinod Dangle (31) says he “lost his sanity”. Forced to drive his ambulance on the wrong side after being jeered by a group of drunk boys too busy cheering a dry run of the human pyramid at the mouth of Dadar Bridge, all Dangle could think of was to reach his patient in the intensive cardiac care unit ambulance on time. But a policeman got to him and before he could be convinced of the seriousness of his patient, another quarter of an hour was lost. That nearly proved fatal for the patient.
Traffic is Mumbai’s latest killer. And those having to use an ambulance during this festive season know it best. Dr Kishore Sathe, administrational and medical officer, department of emergency medicine at the P D Hinduja Hospital, will vouch for it. “The traffic scenario in Mumbai has become so pathetic that every month, we end up losing five to 10 patients on an average while they are on way to hospital. A majority of these are cardiac cases.”
Last week, it was a 40-year-old woman from Ulhasnagar “complaining of high fever and breathing problems”. A bed was booked on priority at Hinduja and there was a doctor-on-call with her in the ambulance. She could not make it in time. Dr Sathe recalls how desperate and helpless the doctor in the ambulance felt. “We could not even reach Sion Hospital as the traffic at Chunnabati junction had brought the ambulance to a standstill for 45 minutes,” the doctor had said.
The city’s ambulance drivers are beginning to dread their job. Dangle’s experience is uniformly traumatic everyday. During a twohour ride that he often puts in between Mira Road-his ambulance service has an office there-and hospitals in various parts of the city, he is faced with irresponsible policemen and an uncaring public. “Everyone wants to go ahead. And when I do manage to get way, courtesy a good commuter, there are 10 others who grapple for that same space on the road. In the end, a life is lost.”
In 1974, the 15 minutes between Dadar and Bombay Hospital was considered “safe”, says Manohar Pilankar (58) about the time he started his service with 15 ambulances. Today, the same distance is a “risk of over an hour”, he tells families of patients before venturing out. Other seasoned ambulance drivers like Amit Mehetre of Ashtavinayak Ambulance Service that operates between Thane, Shahapur and Panvel, “thinks twice” before agreeing to take a patient to a hospital in Mumbai. “The traffic makes it an impossible situation,” he says.
The police, however, have a different story to tell. “Our field officers and constables are always briefed to give priority to ambulances. Constables are supposed to update the officer at the next junction that an ambulance is one its way,” says Vijay Kamble, joint commissioner of police (traffic). When told about the experience of some ambulance drivers, Kamble was shocked.
“This is a serious issue. We will investigate and take immediate action against the traffic policemen if service providers have alleged they were stopped when handling an emer gency case,” he adds.
But drivers insist that traffic policemen need to be sensitised. “Last week, I was han dling an emergency case from Borivali to Malad. I overtook from the wrong side after I got stuck in traffic at Malad West from the NHL college junction,” recalls driver Loy. “A traffic policeman at the spot stopped me and got into an argument without paying heed to the emergency signs I had already put out.” Loy’s patient, too, could not make it.
Even doctors agree there is a general lack of awareness among the public as well as the police. Dr Sathe has a question for every Mumbaikar: “It is easy to blame the system, the traffic police or the RTO. But we need to ask what the public needs to do.”
Pilankar adds: “In the end, traffic comprises people like you and me.”
Publication : IE; Section : MN; Pg : 1; Date : 28/9/07
URL : http://70.86.150.130/indianexpress/ArticleText.aspx?article=28_09_2007_521_008