Gujarat CM's brother passes away due to 45 minutes ambulance delay

In a shocking incident from Rajkot, a delay in 108 emergency services lead to the death of Anil Singhvi (aged 72) who is a cousin brother of Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. On last Friday, Singhvi complained of difficulty in breathing. Minutes later, family members had called for medical emergency service of 108 for reaching the hospital at the earliest. However, the ambulance reached at least 45 minutes late which proved to be fatal for Anil Singhvi who had passed away by the time ambulance arrived. 

The incident came to light when on October 8, Vijay Rupani was on a visit to Rajkot and went to visit his family and learned of the entire incident. Upon learning this, the CM also instructed the collector to investigate the matter and determine the reason for the medical emergency vehicle delay.

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"Wed called for the ambulance as soon as he complained of difficulty in breathing. After just seconds he couldn't breathe at all. He had had trouble breathing and had an asthma attack. But by the time ambulance reached it was a little too late," said a family member. 

On Wednesday however, in a press conference the collector clarified that the delay of the ambulance was due to a human error. That, during the time of calling an ambulance, the family members had given out half an address because of which 108 officials could not determine the address.

"The family members had used a landline while contacting the ambulance services. And they'd only conveyed their address as 'behind Modi School'.  There are at least three more schools in Rajkot. Upon calling back the family members, the phone was not picked up - for at least thirteen times that officials had called back on the landline. It is a tragic incident and we are sorry for the loss. We advise the people to use cellphones while calling emergency services and also to remember to give out an accurate address for the faster reach of ambulances," said Ramya Mohan, district collector.

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