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.

Our member, Ms K. Banerjee, had not been feeling well for a couple of days. Her son was in touch with her doctor and when their doctor suggested immediate hospitalisation, she contacted our Kolkata Alarm Centre on 23rd August 2021. Mr B. K. Burman, Member Care Associate (MCA), was informed as per process and he reached the member’s residence around 11 a.m. in the morning. On reaching her preferred hospital, the MCA deposited the required form and money and went to talk to the doctor, who advised CT scan and a few diagnostic tests. The MCA accompanied Ms Banerjee for all the tests and admitted her in the hospital. He then waited for the doctor to come and check her; collected all her belongings; explained the medicines that she takes regularly to the on-duty nursing attendant; and left the hospital around 4.30 p.m. He signed off only after going to the member’s house and handing over the extra cash and belongings.

We received an emergency call at our Kolkata Alarm Centre (ALCO) around midnight on 7th July, 2021. Our member Ms S. Gupta was having breathing difficulties and needed immediate help. The ALCO team located Mr S Biswas, Member Care Associate (MCA), who was on duty then, provided him the details of the member’s location and asked him to go there immediately. When Mr Biswas reached there around 12.10 a.m., he found that the member’s daughter was very worried and her attendant rather nervous because it was so late at night. As soon as the ambulance reached, the member, her daughter and attendant were asked to sit in the ambulance while Mr Biswas escorted them to their preferred hospital in the same locality. Once they reached the hospital, the MCA, without wasting any time, managed to speak with the emergency on-duty doctor so that immediate action could be taken. Ms Gupta was given oxygen and admitted in the emergency ward. He then accompanied Ms Gupta’s daughter and helped her with the formalities and arranged for an immediate RT-PCR test as per current protocol. The MCA left the hospital after apprising his Zonal Coordinator, Mr A. Bhattacharya, all the details.