Finding medical care is a nightmare for the residents of Pizhala after 7 p.m.. For hundreds of people, the nightmare looms large when the ferry services to the island stops.
A boat ambulance had been lying on shore at the Pizhala primary health centre (PHC) for the past ten years perhaps. It is non-operational and procedures are on to condemn it, said the medical officer at the PHC, but neither the Panchayat nor the Health authorities have looked into meeting an emergency in the island.
Deepa, a housewife from the island told The Hindu about a fatal heart attack one of her neighbours had suffered in recent times.
“It is a big problem to get to mainland once the ferry service stops”.
On paper, an ambulance vehicle with a driver is ready on call at Moolampilly. The ambulance numbers are displayed at the PHC. But how does he get across to the island without a ferry service at night, no one seems to have asked.
The staff at the PHC told The Hindu that the boat dispensary which operates during day-time, reaching various wards in the Kadamakudy grama panchayat can be used as an ambulance. But so far, it has never been pressed into service.
Valsa Francis, the panchayat president said that they have been asking for an ambulance for a long time. Even the palliative care service by the panchayat is being done by hiring an autorickshaw. The panchayat has little funds of its own to make such purchases, she added.
The medical officer at Pizhala PHC said that the ambulance driver at Moolampilly had been rather prompt in reaching out for medical services, but the vehicle could not be kept safely at the PHC without any in-patient service.
Efforts to find a driver from the island also drew a blank, said the medical officer.
