Hard day for patients at Ludhiana civil hospital’s emergency ward

As the victims of the Giaspura gas tragedy were brought in the civil hospital here on Sunday, the emergency ward remained heavily occupied and entry of routine visitors was restricted to the unit.

Eleven people, including two children, died and many others were feared trapped inside a factory on Sua Road near Sherpur Chowk in Punjab’s Ludhiana after a gas leak on Sunday.

The emergency ward witnessed several high-profile visits, including that of health minister Balbir Singh and other administrative officers due to which routine visitors, including emergency patients were restricted to enter the building and were handed tokens for their turn.

Waiting in the lawn area outside the emergency ward, 51-year-old Kamal Kant, who had stuffed cotton in his nostrils to stop it from bleeding, said “I have been waiting for last one-and-a-half hour for my turn. They have handed me a token and asked me to wait outside. We are not being allowed to enter the emergency building because the health minister is on his way to visit gas tragedy-hit patients admitted in the same ward.”

“I was attacked by my husband with a rod. Police has asked me to get medical check-up done to lodge an FIR,” said another patient, claiming that she has been waiting for over two hours outside the emergency ward.

Denying the allegations, civil surgeon Hitinder Kaur said, “Emergency is working as per the normal routine, patients have been given token and EMO (emergency medical officer) is attending one patient at a time to avoid crowd inside the ward.”

Divulging details about the emergency patients, senior doctor of the ward said, “Around 66 patients have been attended since morning. However, they have been told to wait outside the building premises in view of security arrangements made to prevent any untoward incident.”