Private ambulance strike at Dhaka Medical over permanent parking demand; relatives stranded trying to take bodies home

Private ambulance owners have been on strike at Dhaka Medical College Hospital since Tuesday morning, demanding permanent parking. The strike has caused suffering for patients and their relatives; in particular, several relatives have been left in difficulty, unable to find an ambulance to take bodies away from the hospital.

The strike is being held under the initiative of the Dhaka Medical branch of the Private Ambulance Owners' Welfare Association. Earlier, on Monday morning, a section of the association's members formed a human chain inside the hospital's Bagan Gate with demands including permanent parking and fixed fares.

The association's general secretary, Md Emon Ali, said they had long served patients by keeping ambulances inside the hospital premises. After parking there was closed, with no alternative arrangement, ambulances have had to be kept on nearby roads, causing traffic congestion and leaving owners and drivers facing cases from the traffic police. The strike will continue until parking is arranged as before, he said.

The hospital authorities, however, remain firm on not arranging permanent parking. Hospital director Brigadier General A K M Farhad Hossain has said there will be no arrangement for private ambulances to park permanently inside the hospital premises.

The director said permanent parking for private ambulances is not possible because of the hospital's space shortage. The matter has been discussed with law enforcement agencies, and legal action will be taken if a strike is held by holding patients hostage or if ambulances are parked illegally on the roads, he said.

He also said the initiative has been taken to reduce the suffering of patients and relatives, ease congestion in front of the emergency department and maintain discipline at the hospital. A room in front of the emergency department that had been temporarily given to the private ambulance owners' association has also been closed; seating for patients' relatives will be arranged there.

According to the director, ambulances will drop off patients and leave the hospital premises, and will come back to pick patients up when needed. Because of the space shortage, adequate seating cannot be arranged for patients' relatives. He also noted that many people arriving from far away do not know the surrounding area well and fall victim to fraud outside the hospital.

During the strike, several relatives suffered as they could not find an ambulance to take bodies away from the hospital. At the time, some people were seen carrying patients on vans.

Md Shahin, who came from Narayanganj, said his grandmother Halima Begum had been admitted to the medicine department of the hospital's new building. She died on Tuesday noon. He then searched for an ambulance for more than three hours to take the body away but could not find one; he did not see any government ambulance either.

Mohammad Monir Hossain, who came from Jatrabari, had his nephew Md Rasel (22) brought in serious condition from Mugda Medical College Hospital to Dhaka Medical College Hospital after he fell ill. Rasel died on Tuesday afternoon while under treatment in the medicine department of the new building. His relatives were then left in difficulty, unable to find an ambulance to take the body away.