Ensure vehicles plying kids have necessary clearances
Kolkata: SSKM Hospital became the first state government hospital to use a special technology to artificially arrange respiration for one of the two children critically injured in a pool car accident at Polba in Hooghly district on Friday. But the condition of both the injured remained extremely critical through out Saturday.
In connection with the Polba pool car accident, state education minister Partha Chatterjee said that it is the school authorities, whether government run or private, who have to ensure that the vehicles in which their students come to school must have necessary clearances as per the set norms.
He said: "Fitness certificates of the vehicles operating as pool cars have to be checked as and when required so that such incidents can be checked."
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has enquired
about the health condition of the two students who are undergoing treatment at SSKM Hospital.
The technology was applied as the seven member medical board apprehended that Rishabh Singh, the critically injured child might suffer multi- organ failure with huge amount of slush and water accumulating in his lungs of the child with the pool car falling in a waterbody after the accident.
"We are using Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation( ECMO) – a treatment that uses a pump to circulate blood through an artificial lung back into the bloodstream of the very ill baby. This system provides heart-lung bypass support outside of the baby's body. It helps in maintaining the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body as his lungs not working. This allows us some time before the child's lungs and heart to rest or heal. The child is stable compared to Friday but condition is still critical and we are maintaining round the clock observation and hoping for the best,"
said a senior official of the hospital.
"We have mainly used ECMO to control the carbon dioxide level and we have been somewhat successful till now , but we cannot say at this juncture that the other organs of the child will function normally," said Raghunath Mishra, superintendent of SSKM hospital.
According to hospital sources, the condition of Dibyangshu Bhagat, another child admitted in critically
injured condition is slightly better but he has also been kept in round the clock monitor. Both of the children had suffered head injuries which is a major cause of worry among the doctors .
Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee stayed in the hospital through out Friday night and Mayor Firhad Hakim also stayed till late night to take stock of the treatment.
"The doctors are trying their best. Let us hope for the best," said Hakim.
The police is not ruling out the allegations made by Rishab's father that the children including his son who were travelling in the pool car were made to change vehicles on more than one occasion during their journey to school on Friday.
The vehicle did not have physical fitness certificate and the speed governor was also malfunctional. Prima facie it appears that the accident took place due to overspeeding," a senior police officer said .
The forensic test of the accident vehicle was conducted on Saturday . Meanwhile, the Kolkata Traffic Police will soon start a special drive to ensure that there is no compromise with the safety standards of the pool cars that are used for carrying school children.
