Walking nearly 30 km through hilly jungle terrain, carrying an ailing expectant mother in a makeshift stretcher, a medical team saved the life of the woman in Odisha’s Malkangiri district.
The six-member medical team from the Kalimela Community Health Centre (CHC), led by a young physician, Dr. Radheshyam Jena, undertook this exemplary show of service. The medical team had been on a two-day trip by foot to remote villages in the Kalimela Block for pulse polio immunisation and malaria screening. These villages do not have any road connectivity.
Inaccessible village
While at the inaccessible Kodidulagundi village, which falls under the Kurmanur Panchayat, on January 20, they had received information pertaining to Rinama Bare, a tribal woman in extreme labour pain over the previous 24 hours. Dr. Jena, along with his assistant Sukant Sahu, and health workers Dinesh Biswas and Sundarmihan Tudu, immediately rushed to her home. The team could ensure Ms. Bare delivered a baby boy. However, she was carrying twins.
“Without the necessary medical equipment, it was not possible for me to oversee the next delivery as the condition of the patient had deteriorated. Her pulse was feeble and she was also bleeding. Her life was in danger. So, we decided to save her by immediately shifting her to the nearby medical centre at Kalimela,” said Dr. Jena. But there was no one at the village to help as all the men were away working.
Makeshift stretcher
Having no other way out, Dr. Jena and his team converted a cot into a makeshift stretcher for Ms. Bare, which they carried on their shoulders towards Tekguda, from where they could reach Kalimela by a vehicle.
They started their 30 km trek over hilly terrain at about 2 p.m. and reached Tekguda at about 8 p.m. From there, the woman was immediately shifted to the Kalimela CHC, where she delivered a dead child. Nevertheless, Ms. Bare’s life could be saved.
The young Dr. Jena hails from Balasore district. He completed his MBBS degree from the MKCG Medical College in Berhampur in 2017, and took up government service in March 2019. “I feel saving life of a patient is the greatest joy for any physician and I am happy that I got the chance to do it,” said Dr. Jena.
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