Woman sends SOS as Klang runs out of ambulances

 

Kawyla Moorthi could not take an e-hailing ride because there was no one to care for her children while hospital and health clinics said there were too many cases and they could not help.

KLANG: Kawyla Moorthi lost her husband to Covid-19 a week ago. Her wait at the Klang Hospital had been in vain because she could not visit him after he collapsed and died while seeking treatment there.

After returning home with her two young children, she started developing flu-like symptoms.

A day later, the 40-year-old woman from Taman Chi Liung started experiencing shortness of breath. She called 999 and told them that she had yet to be tested for Covid-19 but was feeling weak.

The person on the other end of the line said there was no ambulance to take her to the hospital.

To make things worse, she could not take an e-hailing ride since only two people were allowed in a car and there was no one to care for her children, aged three and 10.

Kawyla’s relatives tried calling the Klang Hospital and health clinics for help but were told that there were too many cases and they could not help.

Then came a call from an undertaker asking for RM2,600 for her husband’s casket and funeral arrangements.

She cannot afford to pay them because her husband, Venodhkumar Chinnasamy, 40, was the sole breadwinner, working minimum wage as a security guard at a gated luxury home area in Bukit Tinggi.

She said: “I tried everything. Can’t take Grab. How to leave my kids here alone? I am worried about my kids. One guy at the hospital told me ‘sorry not enough ambulance’. I think I am going to die.”

Kawyla was not the only one suffering from the situation that arose due to the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in Klang.

Klang’s main hospital, Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR), is bursting at the seams, with foldable beds placed on the driveway of the emergency receiving area.

Sixty additional beds have been sent there while the army is to set up another 50 in a field hospital setup.

Klang MP Charles Santiago said while he was arranging to transport Kawyla to the hospital, there was another family who lost their breadwinner recently.

“The family had called for an ambulance for two straight days. It never turned up.

“Yesterday, the man in his 40s died after suffering from breathing difficulties at 3pm. Paramedics only came at 7pm to pronounce him dead. Now, the entire family has Covid, too,” he told FMT.

Santiago said he has heard of at least six families suffering from the same predicament and sees a worrying trend of whole families affected by Covid-19.

He said that with Klang and areas around it having a population of 1.5 million, the vaccination rate was pathetic and the lack of ambulances made things worse.

He said while he could arrange to help a few families to be transported to the hospital, he could not help all (more than 30) the families that have reached out for help.

“The health minister should spend more money on getting ambulances and work on a rapid system where paramedics can arrive within at least 30 minutes. There must be a proper system in place, urgently.”

FMT has contacted Selangor health department director Dr Sha’ari Ngadiman for comment. - FMT