The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : First aid could have saved him

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Thursday, Feb 28, 2008
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First aid could have saved him

Staff Reporter

Man dies while travelling by Brindavan Express
He did not get first aid and there were no doctors on board

BANGALORE: Just as Railway Minister Lalu Prasad announced a slew of measures to change the face of the Indian Railways on Tuesday, nothing much has been announced to provide the much needed medical facilities onboard. An elderly person travelling to Chennai from Bangalore breathed his last onboard Brindavan Express because of lack of medical facilities on Tuesday.

Sixty-four-year-old Sampath Kumar, who was returning home after visiting his niece Malathi Varadarajan, a school principal in Bangalore, had boarded Brindavan Express along with wife Kamala. Ms. Varadarajan said the train’s departure was delayed by one-and-a-half hour.

When the train reached Jolarpettai around 7 p.m., Mr. Sampath Kumar began convulsing and Ms. Kamala, herself a heart patient, was frantically looking for help. While she was giving him water between Jolarpettai and Arakkonam, Mr. Sampath Kumar had an epileptic attack.

Ms. Kamala’s inquiries with the Railway staff did not bring any relief. Neither there were any first-aid facility nor was any doctor travelling on the train, Ms. Varadarajan said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sampath Kumar lost consciousness. She claimed that although alerted, the Railways failed to arrange a doctor at Arakkonam, the next station.

Co-passengers shifted Mr. Sampath Kumar to the Perambuur Railway Hospital where he was declared brought dead. Mr. Lalu Prasad’s tall claims during the budget presentation and the harsh reality faced by her uncle and aunt have made Ms. Varadarajan sad.

Bangalore Divisional Railway Manager Mahesh Mangal told The Hindu that in such cases, medical facilities would be arranged at the next important railway station. Since Jolarpettai did not come under his jurisdiction, he refused to comment on the incident.

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