“I wait outside the village for all the lights to switch off so that I can sneak into my house at night. If a neighbour sees me, my family will face social boycott,” says Shivanna Belgundi, an ambulance driver, who, for the last two and a half months, has been picking up Covid-19 patients from across Hubballi and dropping them at the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS).
“After reaching home, I take two buckets of hot water bath, eat my food sitting in a corner, sleep in a corner and leave home before the break of dawn. I can’t live without seeing my 8-year-old daughter. My neighbours in Hosakeri village of Belagavi district have ‘warned’ me twice not to come home as I come in contact with Covid-19 patients,” he says.
This isn't just Shivanna's story. Almost all the six ambulance drivers and six emergency medical technicians (EMTs) working in Hubballi city, one of the worst-affected in Dharwad district, have faced similar or even worse treatment from their neighbours.
One of the drivers, Vasudev H Mundinamani, said that a local BJP ex-corporator in Vidya Nagar had issued ‘strict instructions’ to him against coming home, as he can be ‘carrier of the virus’.
Another driver, who did not wish to be named, said every time he goes home, which is once in every 15 days, his neighbours keep an ‘eye’ on him all through his stay. “Villagers have stopped allowing my children to play with theirs,” he says.
They said none of them had rebelled against the villagers fearing social boycott faced by their families or worse, them being attacked in their absence.
“We don’t handle Covid-19 patients. The patients walk into the ambulance by opening the doors themselves. The government has given us adequate safety equipment, including PPE kits, gloves, sanitisers, among other things. We also ensure adequate distance from the patient and only assist them in case of emergency,” they said, adding that they get permission to go home only after being tested for Covid-19.
Work was not taxing in the earlier days but the number of cases had increased in the past 10-12 days, they said. Each one of them makes at least 10-12 trips a day and are behind the wheels for almost 10-14 hours a day. On Sunday (July 12), they had to shift over 109 patients to either KIMS or the other Covid Care Centres.
The government provides them with good food, but they don't get enough time to eat it, they added.
Complaints of delay
Even as the drivers work round the clock, there have been complaints of ambulances not reaching on time. EMT Hanumanth T Nilgund pinned non-availability of beds at KIMS.as the cause behind the delays.
“We can’t drop the patient at KIMS and leave. The ambulance has to wait at KIMS until the patient is taken in. As almost all the beds are filled at KIMS, the process is getting delayed,” he said.
In spite of their hard work, the drivers and EMTs are not getting their payments on time, they said.
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