Bengaluru: Denied admission by 9 hospitals, 43-year-old man dies in ambulance

Denied admission by 9 hospitals, man dies in ambulance  |  Photo Credit: PTI

With hospitals crumbling under the pressure of handling a fast-increasing number of Coronavirus patients, many patients are paying an enormous amount of money to get hospital beds, some are breathing their last without even getting any medical assistance. It was the latter case with a 43-year-old man in Bengaluru.

Struggling with breathing issues and cough, the man was denied admission in as many as 9 hospitals. His condition continued to deteriorate and eventually, he passed away in the ambulance itself en route to another hospital.

"My wife's uncle was a car driver by profession and he suffered from chest congestion and lung problems previously. On Tuesday night at 11 pm he developed chest pain and coughing. We tried calling for an ambulance but it took a lot of time to get one," a male relative of the deceased, who did not wish to be identified, told The New Indian Express.

The relative of the patient said that oxygen or ventilator support might have helped saved the man's life but the hospitals were only busy giving attention to Coronavirus patients. For this patient, they did not have a bed or ICU bed empty.

"By midnight, we got an ambulance and went to around 9 government and private hospitals but they all either said, their beds were full or the ICUs were full. We even fought at some places with the hospital authorities but they did not admit even then," the man said. " While his wife, my father-in-law and brother-in-law were in the ambulance with him, I was at home due to a fracture. I was calling several other hospitals asking them to admit him but they did not agree."

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"Finally around 6.30 am he passed away in the ambulance while on the way to a hospital which we had already visited the previous night. As we did not want people to be at risk when they come for the funeral, we got a corona test done at the hospital and it turned out to be negative," he added.