Keonjhar: In a bizarre incident, a lady doctor was forced to operate on a patient using the flashlights of her mobile phone following a power cut at Keonjhar district headquarters hospital (DHH) here in this district Saturday night.
Sources said, the woman patient needed an immediate surgery. So, with no option left, a lady doctor had to perform the operation with the help of a mobile torch due to the power cut in the hospital.
Earlier, a similar incident was reported from Mayurbhanj DHH. Constant power cuts, low voltage and absence of generator back-up system have been the bane of many government hospitals.
According to sources, a woman, whose identity is yet to be ascertained, was rescued in a critical condition near OMC rest house under Barbil police limits Saturday evening. She was immediately rushed to Barbil hospital and later shifted to the Keonjhar DHH as her deteriorated condition.
She bore severe injuries on her head, neck and body. However, there was a power cut in the DHH at the time with no back-up system.
Since the woman was critical, a lady doctor, left with no option conducted the preliminary surgery under flashlights of her cell phone.
Once her condition stabilized, she was shifted to the SCB College and Medical in Cuttack, reports said.
“The police brought a 20-year-old woman to the hospital in a critical condition. She had injuries on her neck affecting her windpipe. We conducted all the preliminary treatment here. She was then shifted to SCB in a 108 ambulance,” a senior consultant of surgery, Dr AK Dey said.
While locals have praised the effort of the lady doctor and her dedication towards patients, people raised questions on why wasn’t any electrical substitute like a generator available at the DHH.
On the other hand, doctors treating patients inside a dark cabin with relatives and staff members holding candles and flashlights in their hands have become a regular feature in many hospitals.
There have been constant demands for back-up systems in the hospitals, but to no avail. Moreover, even when there is electricity, available machinery lay unused as the voltage remain low, it was alleged.
PNN