The Pain of Watching Someone Helplessly Die in Live Coverage…

I am shocked beyond words. Yesterday night we happened to watch NE TV, a channel covering North-Eastean India. In it was a live coverage of a 20 year old dying from an accident caused by two racing bikers.

He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was immediately taken to nearby Bangur Hospital, a government Hospital.

He lay there injured for over 5 hours without any doctors attending him and without any care until he died at about 9:30 PM. Reportedly the doctors were attending a cultural festival. There was no attending doctor in the whole Hospital and none was summoned. The Health Ministry officials when contacted were prompt in disconnecting their phone lines but not in helping the patient.

I also question the role of the television channel. Couldn’t they with all their resources summon a single doctor from outside or try to shift him to a different hospital? In their favor they repeatedly appealed to any doctors nearby to attend to him over their channel. By the time I started watching it was all over. In such cases even minutes are precious in saving a patient.

However their act pales in comparison to the poor & apathetic service of government Hospitals and their doctors today, the only source of survival for economically disadvantaged.

The whole thing is sad beyond words. Can’t we expect some basic responsibility from our doctors?