Gorakhpur tragedy: Doctor who helped save lives removed from duty
The first hospital he sought help from, gave him three cylinders which he immediately drove to the hospital in his car.
Lucknow: Kafeel Khan, a child specialist at BRD Medical college, who used his personal resources to save the lives of children on August 11, has now been removed from all hospital duties.
The doctor was removed on the basis of a report by a news channel that highlighted an old case that was pending against him and also on charges of doing private practice,
Dr Khan had emerged as a hero on social media after he went out of his way to borrow oxygen cylinders from other hospitals when the oxygen supply began drying up in BRD Hospital.
On the night of August 10, Dr Khan, child specialist and doctor in-charge of the encephalitis ward, received a frantic call from the hospital, informing him that all oxygen will soon dry up.
Aware that patients of encephalitis will not survive without continuous oxygen supply, Dr Khan swung into action and rushed to nearby hospitals to borrow cylinders for some critical patients.
The first hospital he sought help from, gave him three cylinders which he immediately drove to the hospital in his car. The doctor then made several such trips to various hospitals nearby to borrow oxygen cylinders till the next morning.
He managed to collect 12 oxygen cylinders and soon after received a call from a local supplier promising to send cylinders, but only on cash payments. He th-en handed over his debit card to one of his juniors and asked him to withdraw cash to furnish the payment at the earliest.
By Friday morning, when the cylinders started running dry, the doctor instructed his junior staff to pump oxygen through ambu bags (a self-inflating bag).