KATHMANDU, May 28: My name is Asmini Gurung. I have been working at the COVID-19 ICU ward of Bheri Hospital from the beginning of the first wave of the pandemic. The night shift of our duty begins at 7 PM. He ( Dilli Rawat) was in the 13 number bed of the ICU ward in the hospital. His health condition was critical from the day he was admitted to the hospital.

Doctors had already informed his relatives about the deteriorating health of the patient. Suddenly the oxygen level of the patient dropped and was measured 20-30. We then decided to keep him on a ventilator and supply oxygen. While I was connecting the ventilator, Man Bahadur Rawat, a family relative of the patient, said, “What type of nurse is it who doesn’t know how to connect a ventilator? Where did you get your education from? I can scrap your license.” But, It is normal not to increase the oxygen level of a patient immediately after placing him on a ventilator.

We then asked Man Bahadur to go outside and carried on with our duty. Soon, the patient died. We then began to conduct an electrocardiogram test to confirm his death. While one of my colleagues, Sadiksha, was conducting the test, some 10 to 15 people tried to kill her by pressing her neck. She, however, escaped and then we hid ourselves in a cabin. Those men followed us and broke the cabin’s door. There was an attached toilet. We hid there but they found us again.

After they broke the toilet’s door as well, we found no other option than jumping off the window. We then ran to the hospital’s new building and hid there for hours. We cried and screamed. We four staff nurses and an on-duty doctor jumped off the window to save our lives. We had already informed the administration office of the hospital that the relatives of the patient were aggressive from the beginning. We asked the administration to send police for our security but they didn’t listen to us which caused the incident.

We have sustained injuries in our legs. One of my colleagues is to undergo an X-ray. We screamed but no one came for our aid.  

(The report is based on an interview by Republica correspondent Arjun Oli with Asmini Gurung, a staff nurse at Bheri Hospital.)

 
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