On 7 th September, our member, Mr C. Manchala’s attendant did not turn up. When Mr and Ms Manchala’s repeated calls went unanswered, they got very worried, as they depended on the attendant for Mr Manchala’s medicines. They called up our MCA Mr. J. Srinivasulu, who assured them that he would look into the problem immediately. Mr Srinivasulu tried to call the attendant, but his calls also went unanswered. Mr Srinivasulu sent MCA Mr S. Reddy to the Manchala residence. Mr Reddy checked Mr Manchala’s prescriptions and organised all his medicines for the day and the following day. On the other hand, Mr Srinivasulu arranged for another attendant for Mr Manchala and ensured that the attendant reached the members’ house the next day. Mr and Ms Manchala were very appreciative of the manner in which Mr Srinivasulu and Mr Reddy handled the situation.

On the night of 20th September, ALCO received a call from our member, Ms S. Sen. She had had a fall. ALCO asked Mr T. Mahato, MCA, to reach her house immediately. The MCA was able to reach quickly, though it was raining heavily, the entire area was waterlogged and his bike kept stopping. The main gate was locked and he had to bang loudly for the Security to open it. He informed the Security about Ms Sen’s condition, and they went to Ms Sen’s flat. Both the flat gate and door were locked from inside. The MCA tried to call the member, but in vain. He then shouted and requested her to throw the keys from her window. Unfortunately, the keys got stuck on a window shade and the MCA had to climb up a wall to get the keys. He requested the Security Guard to inform the Secretary of the complex, who came down immediately. They opened the flat gate but couldn’t open the front door. The MCA sought one of her relatives’ permission to request the police to break the door. The member’s relative requested them to break the lock to avoid further delay. So, with their permission recorded, the lock was broken, with much difficulty. The MCA found the member in great distress. He immediately requested ALCO to send an ambulance. In the meanwhile, he put all her medical papers and documents and essential things in a bag. Then, together with the Security Guard and the ambulance attendant, he carried her to the ambulance. The member reached the hospital emergency around 2.30 a.m. After examining, the doctor confirmed that she had fractured her hip and collarbone. Her relatives had also reached the hospital. He handed over her mobile and other essential stuff to her relatives before leaving around 5 a.m.

On 14 th September, one of our Alarm Centres received a call around 11.35 a.m. from our member Mr A. K. Bhattacharyya’s attendant. The Alarm Centre, through our back-end technology, immediately got in touch with Mr S Biswas, the Member Care Associate (MCA) closest to Mr Bhattacharyya’s house, and asked him to go there. They also arranged for an ambulance. Due to waterlogging, the MCA’s bike stopped and he had to wade through knee-deep water to reach the member’s house. The attendant informed that they had already given him sugared water as he has a tendency of Hypoglycemia. The ambulance could not reach the member’s residence because of waterlogging. The MCA called Mr Bhattacharyya’s daughter who requested him to somehow take her father to the nearby hospital. The MCA managed to get a rickshaw. Somehow, he brought down the member, seated him on the rickshaw and ran alongside the rickshaw, holding the member, lest he fall in the water. Reaching the hospital, he took the member to the Emergency ward. The member underwent a number of tests and the doctor put him under Hypoglycemia medication till the evening. Then the doctors asked the MCA to take our member home as admission was not necessary. Mr Bhattacharyya was also feeling much better. The MCA, with the member’s daughter’s permission, escorted the member home in a rickshaw through the waterlogged roads. By the time the MCA reached the member home, it was evening. He updated the member’s daughter about her father’s health condition and signed off.

Our member, Mr R. Banerjee, resident of Durgapur, had a fall and fractured his leg. He needed to undergo surgery at the earliest. A negative blood, a relatively rare blood group, had to be arranged for the surgery, as he had very low haemoglobin count. Immediately, Mr G. Pradhan, ARC, along with 2 other staff members, Mr. B. B. Ganguly and Mr N. Haque, tried to arrange the blood. It was not available in Durgapur and its surrounding areas. When they learnt that the blood was available in Bolpur, they went to Bolpur to procure it. The authorities cautioned them that the blood could not be wrapped with a direct ice pack and instructed them to put it in a big flask with a few pieces of ice. They managed to procure a flask and do as instructed. For the next transfusion, since, even the blood bank in Bolpur didn’t have the required blood group, they found a person of the same blood group. Our member had a successful operation and is now recovering at home. Kudos to the team for their sheer dedication to serve and determination to take on any challenge that comes their way.