Nepal

Absence of ambulance hits patients in Bhojpur

Absence of ambulance hits patients in Bhojpur

By Himalayan News Service

More people are opting for more coronavirus testing than ever before. at Bhojpur health office. Photo: Niroj Koirala/ THT

BHOJPUR, SEPTEMBER 7 People of remote areas in Bhojpur such as Salpasilichho and Ramprasad Rai rural municipalities and Shadananda Municipality are facing a hard time due to unavailability of ambulance service. As the people here don’t have access to ambulance service for emergency situations, they are compelled to rush patients to hospital either by carrying them on stretchers or ferrying them in tractors. “As taking patients to hospital by tractors or people carrying them on stretchers takes time, very often these patients die on the way to hospitals,” said Tara Rai, a local of Salpasilichho Rural Municipality. “We are connected by roads but due to lack of ambulances, when someone falls sick, people rush them to hospital by carrying them in stretchers,” she added. Neither the rural municipality nor the health post has its own ambulance. According to Salpasilichho Rural Municipality Chair Mahesh Rai, the process of purchasing ambulance was stopped due to the present health crisis. Only five local levels in the district have their own ambulances. Two ambulances of the hospital are dysfunctional. A version of this article appears in e-paper on September 8, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.