Swine flu patient forced to breathe through self-inflating bag at RML Hospital

While a three-year-old is fighting for life at Delhi government’s Lok Nayak Hospital, where his condition got worse due to unavailability of ventilators, another critical patient, a swine-flu suspect, was given a self-inflating bag to breathe through despite the critical nature of the disease. After five days of being at the hospital, in need of proper care, the patient was finally shifted to a private facility late on Sunday evening.

Bharti Devi, a resident of Hari Nagar area in Delhi, was rushed to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on Wednesday after she had fallen ill of high fever. The 37-year-old was first admitted to the General Ward, where some tests were conducted, but two days later when her condition got worse and she required intensive care, she was rushed to the isolation ward on the suspect of Swine Flu, and the family was handed over an AMBU-bag for her to breathe through.

“My sister was rushed to the hospital on time and after five days of being in the hospital, she still did not receive any proper care. We were handed over a bag and were using it continuously to help her breathe. We took turns every 15 minutes and after two days of wait, decided to take her to a private facility as the hospital was not even referring her to another centre,” said Anil Singh, Bharti’s brother.