Toddler attacked by stray dog in Kerala: Hospital delayed treatment for 8 hours?

A one year and three months old child was attacked by a stray dog in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, and the parents have now alleged that the hospital the girl was taken to delayed treatment to her for nearly eight hours.

The girl, who was attacked late afternoon on Wednesday, was taken to the government run Sree Avittom Thirunal Hospital Thiruvananthapuram.

Parents of the child allege that they were made to walk from one department to the other by the hospital staff. The girl was admitted to the hospital at 4.30pm – however, she was given an injection for her wounds only at 11pm.

“She had been crying and crying all the time. The dog bit her on her face and there was swelling on her face. But we were made to walk from one department to another by the hospital and it took hours for finally take an injection for the wound,” the child’s mother Saritha told TNM.

The child was playing at their home at Peroorkkada while the incident happened at 1.30 in the afternoon. Saritha and her husband Vivek rushed the girl to the nearby government hospital. From there she was referred to SAT as the hospital is famously known. The parents reached the hospital by 4.30 pm with the child.

“First we were told that our daughter should be taken to pediatric causality. The staff told us to consult the pediatric surgeon. From there we were again directed to pediatric causality. From there we were asked to go to preventive medicine department. The staff there told us that the medicine she had to take was not available there and that we have to buy it from outside. and to go to pediatric causality. We bought the medicine and again were directed to preventive medicine department, from there to pediatric causality,” Saritha said.

She added, “But there was no doctor at the department, we were told that the duty doctor had gone. Every half an hour or 15 minutes we were told to wait. Finally a PG student of pediatric causality gave her the injection at 11pm.”

The parents will file a complaint with the Health Minister in the coming days in this regard. “We don’t want this happen for any other child,” Saritha said.