Kerala: Volunteers Wearing PPE Take COVID Patient To Hospital On Bike, Save Life, Earn Praise
Two volunteers at a Covid facility in Kerala are been praised for their timely action, which saved the life of a COVID-19 patient who was struggling to breathe.
Volunteers Rekha and Aswin had gone to a COVID-19 domiciliary care centre in Alappuzha district on Friday to provide food for the patients there.
But when they were at the facility, the duo was told about a patient who was facing breathing difficulties and needed urgent attention.
Unlike the Covid First-Line Treatment Centres (CFLTC) domiciliary care centres are set up by local bodies for quarantining asymptomatic patients and do not have doctors or other medical staff.
Real heroes
The volunteers called for an ambulance to shift the patient to the nearby hospital, but were told that it will take ten minutes to arrive.
Realizing the urgency of the matter, Rekha and Aswin decided not to wait for the ambulance and took the patient to the hospital, which was just over 100 meters away on the bike.
The incident came to light after a local news channel aired the visuals showing the COVID-19 patient, seated on the bike between the two volunteers wearing PPE kits.
The channel in its report had claimed that 'critically ill COVID-19 patient was forced to be shifted from a CFLTC to hospital on bike due to the lack of an ambulance'.
However after the news was broadcasted, the volunteers and the local body which ran the domiciliary care centre clarified their side of the story.
According to the health authorities, the patient was shifted to the hospital without their knowledge or permission but added that the timely intervention saved the life of the 38-who's condition has since improved.
After the video went viral, the two volunteers have been showered with praises, including from the chief minister of Kerala.
