Pune: Journalist dies of Covid-19; kin allege ambulance delays

PUNE: A city-based television journalist succumbed to Covid-19 at the CoEP jumbo facility on Wednesday.
Pandurang Raykar, 42, was admitted to the facility on Monday night (August 31). His family has alleged he died waiting for emergency medical transport that was supposed to take him to a hospital after he developed a serious drop in oxygen levels.

Raikar is survived by his wife and two children.
“It’s a mockery of the system. My brother could not get the right ambulance at the right time,” said Akshara Shendge, Raikar’s sister.
Authorities said they have now ordered a probe into the death. Sujit Patkar, partner of Lifeline hospital management — the agency running the 800-bed CoEP facility — confirmed an investigation is now on. “An inquiry has been ordered to check if treatment protocol was followed,” he said in a statement.
According to relatives, Raykar had a negative Covid test on August 27, after which he left for Ahmednagar, his hometown. But he continued to experience discomfort all through August 29 and 30.
He then underwent an antigen test, which confirmed he had Covid-19. Raykar was first admitted to a local hospital, but was moved to Pune because his condition showed no improvement.
He was admitted at the CoEP facility around 8.30pm on Monday. His family said he was moved to the facility’s ICU on Tuesday because of deteriorating oxygen levels.
This is also around the time Raykar’s family decided to move him to the Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital for critical care. But given his condition, the transport had to be a specialised ambulance. “Two ambulances came to pick him on Wednesday night. But one had technical problems and the second vehicle did not have a doctor,” said Mandar Gonjari, a friend of Raykar’s and a fellow journalist.
Raykar’s condition is believed to have deteriorated further during the wait for an ambulance. According to doctors, his oxygen levels dipped to 50 within a minute around 4.30am on Wednesday. He was put on ventilator support and administered CPR, but an hour later, Raykar was pronounced dead. The cause was noted as ‘cardiorespiratory failure, secondary due to Covid-19’. “But a well-equipped ambulance on time could have saved his life,” added Gonjari.
Vikram Kumar, PMC commissioner, said Raykar’s death was “unfortunate and extremely sad”.
Kumar told TOI, “After conversations with doctors, it has emerged that his oxygen levels were initially stable — at around 95. He had dinner the previous night and his condition was described by the experts as stable, but critical. At around 4.30am on Wednesday, however, Raykar’s blood oxygen levels suddenly dropped to less that 50 within a few seconds. Doctors could not save him despite CPR and use of emergency drugs.”