Lucknow: Delay in treatment due to dysfunctional lift claims life of an elderly

TNN | Updated: Sep 9, 2020, 08:29 IST

Doctors said 64-year-old S Ansari could have been saved if he had reached 15 minutes earlier

LUCKNOW: A dysfunctional lift allegedly became the cause of death for a heart attack patient in a high-rise in Jankipuram on Tuesday.
The elderly resident of Srishti Apartments could not be taken to hospital on time after a heart attack and died on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.

TimesView

The incident is one of criminal negligence and those responsible for not fixing the elevator on time must be booked. However, elevators are not the only issue for the residents of various apartments built by LDA. They have been complaining about inadequate services and unkept promises for long. The authority will have to evolve a mechanism wherein public grievances are addressed immediately.

The lift of the apartment block built by Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) had been dysfunctional for four days. It was not attended to despite complaints of residents. It was finally repaired on Tuesday after the demise of 64-year-old S Ansari.
LDA has said it will lodge an FIR against the company which was responsible for maintenance of elevators.
On Monday night, Ansari had developed angina. “We immediately called an ambulance that arrived in 10 minutes, but since the lift was out of order, the stretcher could not be brought to my 11th floor apartment,” said Mohammad Irfan, Ansari’s son.
The family then made arrangements by carrying Ansari on a blanket. Four persons lifted the corners of the blanket and carried Ansari down 11 floors and into the ambulance. “We brought him down step-by-step through the stairs. It took about 25 minutes. The ambulance rushed him to hospital but he was declared brought dead due to cardiac arrest. The doctor told us that he could have been saved if he had reached 15 minutes earlier,” said Irfan.
On Friday, Ansari had slipped in the bathroom and broken his arm. “Even then, the lift was not working,” said Irfan. Angry over the incident, residents of the apartment said that besides causing fatal delays in health emergencies, dysfunctional lifts cause a lot of problems to everyone. “Even a fit person cannot climb up and down 11 floors several times a day,” they said. Shrishti Apartments residents’ welfare association secretary Vivek Sharma said, “We had complained to the helpline number of the lift company as well as LDA officials on Saturday, but nothing was done. Now, after a resident has died due to their negligence, a technician came on Tuesday to repair the lift.”
LDA executive engineer KK Bansla said, “I had directed the company official to repair the lift. I will seek answers from them on why the lift was not repaired on the day it stopped and lodge an FIR against the company.”