The treatment came to an abrupt halt after the electricity failed. The generator at the Bijnor district hospital couldn’t come to the rescue as there was no fuel.
“When the power went off, the machine stopped midway with almost half his blood stuck inside it,” a woman. whose 26-year-old son died during dialysis at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district hospital, claimed. The treatment came to an abrupt halt due to a power cut.
Medical centres usually have power back-ups to battle sudden electricity outage. But it turns out that this Bijnor hospital generator didn’t even have fuel. Reportedly, an official inspection was also underway at the time of power cut
A report in Times of India quoted hospital staff as saying that they could not resume treatment of kidney patient Sarfaraz Ahmad because the contracted firm had not supplied diesel for the generator.
During his inspection of the hospital on Friday, CDO Purna Borah discovered five other patients lying there without power, lights, or fans.
Sarfaraz’s mother was quoted by TOI, “When the power went off, the machine stopped midway with almost half his blood stuck inside it. I begged the staff to start the generator, but no one helped. My son died soon after.”
Medical experts consulted by the publication, however, stated it is highly improbable that a large volume of Sarfaraz’s blood could have been present inside the machine at any given time.
“During haemodialysis, only a fraction – about 200 to 250 ml – of blood circulates through the machine at any time. However, an abrupt power failure can delay the process and destabilise critically ill patients,” a doctor was quoted.
The hospital staff held Sanjeevani, the private firm managing the unit through a public-private partnership since 2020, responsible for consistently failing to supply diesel.