Attendants make BSMMU ICU corridor 'temporary home'
Remind nurses to administer drugs
People keep vigil with bags, mattresses, utensils, and other necessary items in the corridor to attend their patients at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) in the city.Photo: STAR
In the corridor just outside the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Nazmun Nahar carefully prepares the medicine, as instructed by the nurse, for her daughter lying in a coma inside. Next to her lies asleep on a mat her three and a half months old son. Ever since her 20-year-old daughter went into a coma following a road accident three months ago, Nahar has been staying here “assisting” the ICU staff with preparation of medicines or buying them as prescribed. "My son stays here, and plays and eats with me, this is like our new home," said Nahar. Like Nahar, some 30 members of 16 other families have made their “temporary home” in the corridor of the ICU, not knowing when their waiting will end. The system at the BSMMU's ICU section is strange. The relatives are “in-charge” of preparing or buying medicine and reminding the staff when to administer those to the patients. With their bags, mattresses, utensils and other necessary items neatly tacked, relatives of patients are on the vigil round the clock. They do what ICU staff are required to do. Defying medical norms, nurses open the ICU door to ask medicines or food from the patients' relatives. Crammed in the 15 by 16 feet passage, the relatives patiently do the job. Shuvo quit his garment factory job to attend his father Litu Munshi, admitted to the ICU four months ago. Shuvo said two persons are required for the job of attending a patient. “When I am desperately looking for a life-saving medicine in the market, the nurses ask for something else. If there is a second person with me, he can answer to ensure that my father does not go unattended,” he told The Daily Star. As evening falls, the corridor wears a different look as attendants go about arranging space to sleep. With mats, pillows and curtains, the area becomes a weary dormitory for some, while others keep awake. Sayeda Akhter, 40, wife of ICU patient Mofazzal Hossain, said it is impossible to get proper sleep here. Mofazzal was admitted to the BSMMU three months ago. “Wailing of relatives hearing news of death, nurses' repeated calls for medicine or food for the patient or the news of further health complications keep us from sleeping,” Sayeda said. "There are worries too,” she continued, “treatment at the ICU is so expensive that a family can never get back its financial strength if a member has to be kept at the ICU for long." BSMMU Director Brig Gen Abdul Majid Bhuiyan said the hospital does not require assistance from the relatives of the patients. He said relatives of the patients defy repeated requests by the hospital authorities and insist on staying close to their near ones. "We provide food and some medicine for the 16-bed ICU patients. But when the relatives say that they want to prepare chicken soup for the patients, how can we stop them?" he asked. At the corridor, the waiting relatives share the same concern and uncertainty about their patients. They also form ties and console one another.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
Related News
Boy found dead in Ctg monastery
5 July 2022, 18:00 PM
Crime & Justice
Eid joy marred by tragedy
5 July 2022, 18:00 PM
Bangladesh
Sitakunda Blast: Who started the fire?
5 July 2022, 18:00 PM
Accidents & Fires
Railway’s east zone reels from manpower crisis
5 July 2022, 18:00 PM
Transport
Barred from rally at Suhrawardy, BNP to hold protest across country tomorrow
13 November 2016, 07:30 AM
Politics
Comments