'Delay in ambulance caused his death'

Student suffers cardiac arrest while giving presentation in class; classmates say he would have lived if he had received timely aid

Classmates of Nitin Bhawarkar (23), a second-year telecom management student were shocked when their friend collapsed while giving a presentation in class at the Lavale campus.


In happier times: Nitin Bhawarkar (circled) with his friends. His
classmates told MiD DAY that the delay in medical aid cost Nitin his life
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He was later declared dead at the Aditya Birla Hospital as he had succumbed to a massive heart attack. However, students believe that their friend would have lived if the ambulance had reached on time.

Around 3 pm yesterday, Bhawarkar collapsed and passed out while giving a presentation in class. The doctor on campus arrived in class and could not feel his heart beat and was rushed to the nearby hospital.

But according to students on campus the delay in the ambulance to reach the campus lead to his death. A student on request of anonymity said, "The ambulance reached him some half and hour later after he collapsed and it took them further time to reach the hospital and by then he was declared dead. This is not the first time but we always have the ambulance reaching us late during emergencies."

When MiD DAY asked the authorities about the delay in the emergency services they refuted the allegation. The director of health care of the institute, said, "It took the ambulance around 10 to 15 minutes to reach the academic block, which is on the other end of the campus. The doctor on campus checked him and could not detect his pulse. We rushed him to Aditya Birla Hospital, which took almost 45 minutes. When we reached the hospital, he was declared dead."

He further adds that the by had a massive cardiac arrest while giving presentation. "I know that the students are claiming that the ambulance reached late but its not true," he said.

Authorities from Aditya Birla Hospital admitted that the boy was brought to the hospital but refused to divulge any further details on the issue.

The doctor in-charge at Aditya Birla Hospital reported the incident around 10.40 pm, last night to Hinjewadi Police station.u00a0 At the time of going to press, the body was being taken to Sassoon Hospital for post mortem examination.

In memoriam
A community called In Loving Memory of Nitin Bhawarkar was created by friends on Facebook by late evening. Around 57 friends had joined the community by mid-night.