On 20 January 2022, ALCO IBD team received a call at 10.56 a.m. from KAB member Ms R. Sensarma. ZC Mr G. Basak, who was nearby, was immediately asked to visit the member. On reaching our member’s residence, Mr G. Basak found the member experiencing breathlessness and gasping for breath, even though the oxygen mask was attached. Mr G. Basak, who has worked in the Army medical department before, realised that there was a blockage somewhere and immediately asked for warm water. After checking the nozzle, which was fine, he checked the outlet of the Oxygen cylinder. Ensuring that it was fine too, he started checking the rest of the pipe. Between the pipe and the nozzle there was a connector with a net which was blocked. Without any delay, he immersed the net in warm water and cleared the blockage. Within 15 minutes the Oxygen saturation level of the member was restored from 76 to 96. Mr G. Basak’s presence of mind, his experience and his prompt action, helped Ms R. Sensarma get relief.

On December 25, our member, Ms S. Laha, shared with Ms S. Malakar, ALCO IBD Lead, that she needed to go to Hyderabad AIG Hospital for medical treatment. She was worried about travelling from Kolkata to Hyderabad when she was ailing; booking a place to stay near the hospital; and taking care of all hospital formalities. Ms S. Malakar assured her that we would take care of everything. Details of the doctor at Hyderabad AIG Hospital were taken and forwarded to Hyderabad-based MCA Mr J. Srinivasulu. An appointment was taken and the details were given to the Kolkata team. As requested by the member, Hyderabad-based MCA Mr Bhemaiah V. booked a room in a guesthouse near the hospital. On the appointed day, ALCO MCO Mr Raihan shared her cab details with MCA Mr S. Biswas, who waited for Ms Laha at the Kolkata airport. He helped her get out of the cab, seated her in a wheelchair, and assisted her till she went inside the airport with her attendant. ALCO had already shared Ms Laha’s travel details with the Hyderabad team. MCA Mr Bhemaiah V. who received Ms Laha at the Hyderabad airport, accompanied her to the guesthouse.
All hospital formalities were efficiently taken care of by the Hyderabad team. During Ms Laha’s stay at the hospital and during her post-hospitalisation stay at the guest house, MCA Bhemaiah V. visited her regularly and ensured that she was fine. After the successful completion of her treatment, Ms Laha was escorted to the airport by MCA Bhemaiah V. He signed off after sending details of her return journey to the Kolkata team.
Kolkata-based MCA Mr M. Mondal received Ms Laha at the airport and made arrangements for her to reach home safely. When the cab reached Ms Laha’s residence, MCA Mr G. Ali was waiting to receive her. He ensured she was comfortably settled in her house before leaving.
Kudos to Team Support Elders, Kolkata & Hyderabad!!

On 28th of January around 1 p.m., we received a call at ALCO from member Mr D. K. Adhikari’s MEAS device. We could only hear someone crying and asking for help. Through digital tracking, ALCO found that ZC Mr G. Basak was near Mr Adhikari’s residence. Mr Basak was informed and he rushed to the member’s house. He found the whole building engulfed in dense smoke and a fire engine was trying to douse the fire. Everyone from the building had come out. The ZC knew that our member was still recovering from Covid-19 and was almost bedridden. Without wasting a second, he ran inside. When the flat owners asked him where he was going, he shouted back that he is from Support Elders and needed to save our member, who was trapped inside. He rushed to Mr Adhikari’s fourth floor flat and found him gasping for breath. His two attendants were extremely worried. They were crying and trying to bring him out. The ZC held the member tightly. Carefully, he brought our member down through the narrow staircase and managed to get a chair for him to sit on. The ZC gave our member some water and assured him that all would be fine. Then, the ZC asked MCAs
Mr S. Ghosh and Mr C. S. Patra to reach there immediately. Once they reached there, the ZC briefed them and left for his next scheduled task. Only after things were under control and the fire brigade and CESC gave permission for residents to enter, did our MCAs carry our member to his flat and settle him on his bed. Their next task was to arrange for an emergency light for Mr Adhikari, as there would be no power for the next few days. They bought an emergency light, charged it at our rest shelter office at Patuli and informed the night shift MCAs to reach it to Mr Adhikari’s residence, so that he could use it at night. MCA Mr Ghosh called our member at night to check on him and ask about his wellbeing. Kudos to the ZC and the MCAs for a job well done. We are proud of our team!

On 16th of December 2021, MCA Mr G. Bhowmik received from Mr M. Halder and Ms M. Ganjai, who were manning ALCO, a call to go to our member Mr A. K. Bhattacharjee’s residence immediately because he was feeling unwell. He set off immediately and reached around 10 p.m. Seeing that Mr A. K. Bhattacharjee was experiencing extreme breathing difficulties, he took permission from our member’s wife to hospitalise him. The MCA informed ALCO and requested them to send an ambulance immediately. He then accompanied Mr Bhattacharjee and his wife to a nearby hospital. But after initial check-up, the doctor, suspecting a cardiac problem, requested the MCA to shift Mr Bhattacharjee to a hospital with a better cardiology department. The MCA then accompanied them and admitted our member in another hospital. He ensured Ms Bhattacharjee was comfortably seated before completing the admission-related formalities himself. By then it was almost 2.30 a.m. One of themember’s relatives, who stays outside Kolkata, was worried about Ms Bhattacharjee, but MCA Mr Bhowmik assured him that it was his responsibility to reach her home safely. He booked her a cab, escorted it and waited till she entered her home. By the time he left Mr Bhattacharjee’s residence, it was 3 a.m. He called ALCO as per process, informed the details and signed off. We are happy to say that Mr Bhattacharjee and his relative were extremely pleased with the dedication and responsibility shown by MCA Mr Bhowmik.