No ambulance, pregnant woman carried on cot

Bhubaneswar: A pregnant woman was carried on cot in Benagaon gram panchayat as ambulance failed to reach her owing to the absence of motorable road, said reports on Sunday.

Manjula, a resident of Litibandei village complained of labour pain on Saturday.

Soon, the local Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and her family members called for an ambulance. But even after waiting for hours, the ambulance did not arrive and they were forced to carry Manjula in a cot tied to a bamboo pole to reach Lanjigarh junction.

Later, she was shifted to the Lanjigarh government hospital after an ambulance picked her up from the junction.

“The woman was brought to the hospital after they reached Lanjigarh main road. The exact case would be ascertained only after we get information from ASHA and health workers. Heavy rains have damaged roads in the interior areas,” said Kalahandi chief district medical officer (CDMO) Jagulal Agarwal.

“We are trying to provide all the required facilities from stretcher to ambulance in these areas. I hope we are able to cover all the areas very soon,” added Mr Agarwal.

In a similar incident last month, a pregnant woman from Trilochanpur was carried for 16 kilometres on a stretcher to reach a hospital in Lanjig.