Both RU ambulances out of order
With both ambulances of Rajshahi University Medical Center (RUMC) out of order, the university's healthcare seekers are suffering for over two months.
The ambulances were allegedly vandalised by some unidentified RU students on May 24 when the RUMC authorities refused to bring a student to the centre from a hospital.
The university authorities do not seem to have any plan to put the ambulances back to service immediately.
Administrator of RU's transport office, Prof Khalilur Rahman Khan, said they started repairing the ambulances recently.
But The Daily Star found no trace of any repair works on the vehicles.
Many of RU's 30,000 students, teachers and staff who regularly seek treatment at RUMC say the problem arises when RUMC doctors refer patients of complicated cases to other places for further treatment.
“Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) is 10km away from the centre. We cannot afford to hire a private ambulance,” said one student.
Foysal Ashraf, a third year student of law and justice department, tells of his difficulty when he recently went to RUMC one night after his health condition suddenly deteriorated.
“When I was referred to the hospital, it was very painful to bear the over one-hour journey on a rickshaw,” he said.
RMCH sources said at least 20 to 30 patients are referred to RMCH everyday.
On a spot visit to RUMC recently, this correspondent found three students, on being referred to RMCH, forced to wait for nearly an hour to find a transport.
While demanding immediate restoration of the ambulance service, many teachers and students urged the authorities concerned to modernise RUMC's healthcare facilities.
RUMC chief medical officer, Dr Mirza Wazed Begue, admitted that RU students, teachers and staff were suffering due to the unavailability of the ambulances.
RU Vice Chancellor Prof Abdus Sobhan was not available for comment. However, Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Muhammad Nurullah said they would take immediate measures in this regard after investigating the matter.
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