Bargarh: At the district headquarters hospital (DHH) in Bargarh, Odisha, a critically ill patient with ventilator support was reportedly treated using a mobile phone flashlight due to a power outage. The incident, which occurred on Tuesday night, has sparked outrage among the public after a video of the scene went viral.
The patient’s son, Rajesh Bariha, stated that his father’s condition worsened when the power outage disrupted the oxygen supply. Allegedly, the hospital plunged into darkness for a few minutes, leading to breathing difficulties for the patient. Nurses had to manually administer oxygen from a cylinder using a mobile phone torchlight to provide immediate attention.
According to sources, the hospital lacks an automatic power generator, and the issue has persisted for an extended period. The manual operation of the generator becomes a challenge when the responsible individual is not present. However, Medical Superintendent D K Dutta dismissed the allegations, asserting that the diesel generator was activated within a minute of the power outage. He explained that the generator requires manual initiation in the absence of an automatic system, and on this occasion, it was started promptly.
