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Blackout at Bombay Hospital leaves patient's arm hanging

Updated on: 24 April,2014 06:34 AM IST  | 
Anuradha Varanasi |

After the electricity cut at Bombay Hospital, the operation of Arvind Kandalkar had to be stopped midway, right after his shoulder was cut open to operate on the clots

Blackout at Bombay Hospital leaves patient's arm hanging

While authorities at Bombay Hospital insist that the 16-hour blackout did not affect their patients, the relatives have a completely different story to tell.


Amita Kandalkar, wife of Arvind who was undergoing an operation when the lights went off in the OT, was told that the operation had to be stopped midway, while his shoulder was still open
Amita Kandalkar, wife of Arvind who was undergoing an operation when the lights went off in the OT, was told that the operation had to be stopped midway, while his shoulder was still open


Mosquitoes, no water supply for two days, non-functioning lifts and lack of air-conditioning — these are only some of the things they had to deal with.


One of the patients who had an exceptionally harrowing experience at the hospital was Arvind Kandalkar, who is presently in the isolation room of the Marine Lines Hospital’s ICU, as his operation came to an abrupt halt, after the partial blackout in the building.

Arvind’s wife, Amita said, “He has clots in his right hand that had to be removed to prevent any further complications. On Monday, we were told that his surgery was scheduled for Tuesday around 1.30 pm.”

Amita recounted that just after her husband was administered anaesthesia, and right before they had made an incision on the shoulder to operate on the clots, the lights went off in the operation theatre (OT).

“Doctors said that it was too risky to continue the operation without lights and had to stop midway. The left part of his shoulder is still cut open,” added Amita.

The Lalbaug resident is now in the isolation room, to prevent his shoulder from infections. After being wheeled out of the OT, it took Arvind five hours to regain consciousness.

His surgery is now rescheduled for Thursday morning. “I was terrified that his shoulder was at such a high risk of infection due to power cut. Thankfully, he is recovering well from the setback.”

Relatives of patients admitted at the private hospital complained that with no air conditioning or fans, they faced a severe mosquito problem and had to put up with dirty toilets, as there was no water supply.

“We had to arrange for our own drinking water. The toilets were in a pathetic state. Water was leaking at certain areas of the hospital,” said Ashok Ganwir, kin of a patient.

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