'If I stopped pumping, he would have died, so I could not even move'

Pramod Dhanawade

For four hours at KEM's emergency ward on Saturday, Santosh Ranjane patiently squeezed the balloon affixed to the artificial oxygen pumping machine at the bedside of his sister's husband, Pramod Dhanawade, 42. Ranjane had been doing that since 3 pm on Saturday, without stopping. "If I stopped pumping, he would have died, so I could not even move from my seat. My hands were aching, but I could not stop. Of the 27 ventilators in the emergency ward, not one was available," Ranjane said. It was at 7.30 pm that the doctors finally managed to provide Dhanawade with a ventilator.

After 7.30 pm, doctors at KEM's emergency ward put Pramod Dhanawade, who had suffered brain haemorrhage, on ventilator

Dhanawade, a resident of Satara, is an engineer and has been working in the city for the past two years. He had been suffering from a fever for a while, which had made him weak and feeble. On Tuesday, while getting out of bed, he fell, badly hitting his head on the side of the bed causing bleeding inside his head. He was first taken to a private hospital in Andheri East, as it was near the SEEPZ area, where he lives. After three days of treatment, when his condition deteriorated, he was put on a ventilator. But, as his family was not satisfied with the treatment, he was taken to Parel's KEM hospital around 3 pm on Saturday.

Pramod Dhanawade is seen receiving artificial oxygen from a pumping machine

Moved to KEM from Andheri
"When my brother-in-law didn't respond properly to the treatment at the Andheri hospital, we brought him here," Ranjane said. At KEM, the doctors said there was no ventilator available and Ranjane was told he would have to manually pump the artificial oxygen machine. Ranjane said, "Hours passed, but all the ventilators were still occupied. It is not like saline that gets over within an hour. I was hoping nothing happened to my brother-in-law until they provided a ventilator for him."

Of the 27 ventilators at KEM Hospital's (above) emergency ward, none are currently available for use

There was no one else to take over from Ranjane because he had not told the rest of the family just how serious Dhanawade's condition is. Dhanawade's own family, who lives in Satara, reached the city on Saturday morning after hearing that he had been admitted to hospital. "I haven't even told my sister how serious her husband's condition is. She has two very young children and is currently staying with another family member in Andheri," he said.

Hospital says
Dr Avinash Supe, dean of KEM hospital, said, "During weekends, we get the highest number of patients from private hospitals that misguide patients and send them here. But, before sending such patients, they should at least inquire about the availability of ventilators. We have more than 100 ventilators at the hospital, with 27 in the emergency ward. But, if they are unavailable, there is nothing we can do. We can't remove a patient from a ventilator to make space for another one."

"In cases where ventilators are unavailable, we send them to other hospitals for emergency treatment," he said. The hospital gets more than 600 patients every day in their emergency ward.