Five-year-old girl on ventilator support dies as cylinder runs out of oxygen in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: In a tragic incident, a five-year-old girl died after the cylinder attached to her ventilator support system ran out of oxygen in Chhattisgarh's Bastar division on Monday.

According to reports, the minor was being shifted to another hospital, nearly 160 km away in Chhattisgarh's Bastar division, when the incident occurred.

The deceased victim, identified as Bulbul Kudiyam, was diagnosed with severe pneumonia and was on ventilator support. She was being shifted to Jagdalpur Medical College Hospital in Bastar district from Bijapur district hospital when the tragedy struck.

Bulbul Kudiyam, a resident of Toynar village, had fallen ill at her ashram school in nearby Matwada village and was admitted in Bijapur district hospital on August 22, Bijapur Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr BR Pujari said.

Giving more details, Dr Pujari said that on Sunday night it was decided to shift her to Jagdalpur after her condition deteriorated.

The oxygen in the cylinder ran out by the time the ambulance reached Tokapal village in Bastar and Kudiyam was declared dead on arrival by doctors of the Jagdalpur Medical College Hospital.

"Normally, it requires one oxygen cylinder to shift patients from Bijapur to Jagdalpur. We will investigate how it got exhausted so quickly," Dr Pujari told reporters.

It has also come to light that the girl was being shifted without a medical technician in the ambulance as the hospital's technician was on on duty somewhere else.

Meanwhile, the girl's father said that the ambulance driver had reportedly contacted staff at Tokapals local government hospital for a replacement oxygen cylinder but his request was allegedly turned down.

Chamru Kudiyam, the girl's father, alleged that negligence on the part of Bijapur district hospital led to his daughter's death.

He also accused his child's ashram school authorities of not providing timely treatment to his daughter.

Taking cognizance of the incident, Bijapur Collector KD Kunjam had directed the CMHO to probe the incident and submit a report.

Kunjam's office has also asked the Matwada ashram school to explain what treatment was given to the child when she fell ill there.

(With PTI inputs)