Heart Attack Patient thrown out of Bus

Forced off bus, man dies on road
TNN 11 December 2009, 06:11am IST

HOWRAH: A minibus passenger, who possibly suffered a heart attack on board, died unattended on Bankim Setu in Howrah when the conductor forced him off the bus in the middle of the bridge and passersby ignored his plight for half an hour.

A traffic sergeant who spotted the well-dressed man lying on the road rushed him to Howrah General Hospital barely 300 metres away. But it proved too late.

It was around 3.30 pm that the minibus travelling down the eastern flank of Bankim Setu slowed down just ahead of the cabway that links platform no. 8 to the flyover and forced a middle-aged passenger down. The man, possibly a trader, given that he was carrying a bag with several packages, stood unsteadily for a couple of seconds before sitting down on the road next to the kerb.

"Something was very wrong with the man. He was unable to stand and sat down. Even that proved difficult and he soon lay on the road. The conductor saw it happen even as the bus continued its journey," said eyewitness Satrughna Shaw, who was hawking sweets a little distance away.

Thereafter, scores of buses, cabs, cars and autorickshaws went past as did pedestrians. Most of them ignored the man in obvious distress. Others stopped a couple of seconds to gaze at him curiously before hurrying on.

Nearly half hour later, Satyajit Ray, a traffic sergeant who had finished duty on GR Road (the stretch between Bankim Setu to Howrah Bridge) and was returning to the Howrah traffic guard, spotted the man.

Sensing the man was ill, Ray stopped a taxi and rushed him to Howrah General Hospital, a two minute's drive from the spot. At the emergency ward, doctors declared he had died moments earlier.

"The patient had possibly had a massive heart attack on board the bus and needed immediate medical attention. Had the bus dropped him off at the hospital instead of on the road a short distance away, he might have survived. The half hour he lay without care proved fatal," said a doctor.

Going through the dead man's pockets, police found Rs 450 in cash, a bunch of keys and a bus ticket of Rs 6. That is the fare for a ride from Esplanade to Howrah Maidan and its immediate vicinity.

The printing on the ticket was so smudged that the registration number of the bus was not legible.

Unable to find any identity card, the police are waiting for a missing report to contact his relatives. The man was dressed in a white full-sleeve shirt with pink stripes, a grey trouser and leather slippers.

This is the new Bengal after 40 years of communist rule.
A man is having a heart attack. Instead of taking him to a hospital, he is thrown out of the bus to fend for himself. People have become so self centred and selfish that they have no time to help him.
Where has humanity gone?
Part of the fault is the system where if anybody helps a person who has had an accident or is taken to the hospital, it becomes his duty to explain to the police why he should not be charge.
The police, always on the look-out to earn a quick buck, will attend the patient later on, first they will harass the good Samaritan.
Compare this to the western system.
If anybody has any medical problem, the medics pull out all stops to help the person. At that time, they do not think of the fees.
Our best hospitals first see if the patient can pay, then only they start treatment.
And we our proud of our religion which tells us to help the downtrodden.
I sometimes feel ashamed to call myself a Hindu.
The Christians are much much better in their service to humanity.
Our religious leaders only talk of Nirvana and salvation and communicating with your inner self but have not inculcated the need for service to humanity.
Instead, we will continue to fight amongst ourselves on the basis of caste, language, religion.
We are worse than animals.