Mumbai: Man moved to care facility after 9-hour wait outside hospital, dies of heart attack

MUMBAI: Unable to get a bed at

even after a nine-hour wait, a 59-year-old Covid-19 patient died within an hour of being moved to a care facility in Mulund. Doctors said the patient, Prakash Jangam, died of a cardiac arrest. He was diabetic.

Last week, Jangam's sons took him to a

after his blood sugar level increased and he developed mild fever. He took a Covid-19 test on May 14, and the following day, the report came positive. His sons consulted the local corporator and took him on a bike to Vidya Bhavan School, a Covid care centre for non-critical patients (CCC2), where doctors suggested he be admitted to Rajawadi Hospital. Jangam was brought to the hospital in an ambulance around 2.30pm. "We went to ward no. 42, but the staff said no beds were available. They suggested we take our father to Nair Hospital in Mumbai Central. But nobody would help arrange for an ambulance," said his son, Vishal.

The family then approached former corporator Namdeo Ubale for help. Ubale spoke to the hospital's medical superintendent Dr Vidya Thakur. "I was told that a bed would be available by 9.30pm after a patient took discharge. But Vishal called me at 10pm and said they were still waiting outside. I spoke to Dr Thakur again and it was decided to move Jangam to Mithagar Municipal School , a CCC2 in Mulund," said Ubale.

Around 10.45pm, Jangam left Rajawadi Hospital in an ambulance with a few other patients. According to his family, the ambulance first went to Chembur and Shivaji Nagar to drop other patients before it reached Mulund. In less than an hour, he passed away. "BMC staff told us that a police NOC was required. I got it from Pantnagar police station and around 5.30am, we carried out my father's last rites without informing my mother who was home alone," said Vishal.

Dr Thakur said at Rajawadi Hospital, every patient's oxygen saturation and body temperature is checked in OPD. "If a bed is not available, we check with the helpline '1916' as well as other hospitals for bed availability. In Jangam's case, it was decided to send him to a CCC-2 facility as his condition was not critical. His death is unfortunate; it shows how tricky Covid-19 can be."