India: Hospital provides free medical aid hardest hit victims of Chennai flood

A specialist hospital in Chennai, India, Apollo Hospitals, has offered medical assistance to patients who were affected after a part of the city was recently flooded.

Apollo took the lead by working round the clock for 45 days to ensure medical aid was provided to the victims.

Less than 24 hours after the disaster, the hospital was also massively flooded, and it became almost impossible for people to receive treatment at the centre, but a dedicated team of doctors and auxiliary staff beat the odds of the disaster to serve patients by working round the clock.

Chennai, a city of 9.6 million population, is still in shock following the natural disaster which claimed more than 280 lives, including 18 patients at a hospital in the city after the flood had knocked out electricity and ventilators.

The 18 patients were said to be in the intensive care unit when a power outage affected the ventilators.

The flood forced most of the hospitals to close down operations, which resulted in complication for patients and loss of lives.

According to the Chief Operating Officer at Apollo Hospitals, Subbalah Viswanathan, despite technical problems the hospital encountered, it was able to communicate within and outside the hospital to give updates. Also, thinking and keeping calm during the crisis helped the hospital to get through the crisis with relative ease, he stated.

He told Daily Sun that while most Chennai hospitals struggled with no power and lack of communication, Apollo Hospital was proactive and had a management plan to save as many lives as possible.

A survivor of the flood disaster, Maari P., said “I have been to many hospitals but only Apollo came to my rescue by offering me medical relieve from my pain.”

While the worst of the rage may be over, Chennai now needs more hospitals like Apollo to open their doors to offer humanitatrian services to the needy, especially in times of disaster.