Gorakhpur hospital tragedy: Meet the 'Hero Doctor' Kafeel Khan who saved lives and was later sacked

With 36 children dying between Thursday, August 10, 2017 and Saturday, August 12, 2017, and 72 children dying in a span of five days at the Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College, the tragedy has revealed the poor state of healthcare facilities in India.

Amidst the chaos, Dr Kafeel Khan, a pediatrician and head of the encephalitis ward at the hospital, has been hailed a hero for preventing further loss of lives.

Kafeel Khan, the ‘Hero Doctor’

According to a DNA report, on the night of August 10, the central oxygen pipeline in the college premises started beeping, indicating low supply of the gas. The doctors and hospital staff knew that the supply could be maintained through emergency cylinders, but only for two hours. They did not know what to do after that.

Khan knew that only uninterrupted supply of oxygen was critical to saving the lives of the children. Calls to the supplier received a negative response. The supplier told the hospital to first clear the dues and then seek for supplies. There were frantic calls made to other suppliers too, but they refused to oblige.

Around 400 children suffering from encephalitis were battling for their lives in the hospital.

Dr Khan drove two hospital employees to a friend's private nursing home and borrowed three oxygen cylinders. He had also instructed the junior doctors to keep pumping Ambu bags if the oxygen supply reduced further in the central pipeline. Khan then dialed some other oxygen suppliers and managed to get 12 cylinders.

 

BRD Medical College Dr Kafil, child specialist Statement In Gorakhpur pic.twitter.com/s7Xsag6G81

— Bahujan Samaj Party (@BspUp2017) August 13, 2017

News18.com reported that Khan even paid Rs 10,000 to an oxygen supplier out of his own pocket.

However, Dr Kafeel Ahmed Khan has been removed as the Nodal Officer for BRD Medical College's Department of Pediatrics, and replaced by Dr Bhupendra Sharma. He was ousted on Sunday, August 13.

ALSO READ: Gorakhpur hospital asked parents to manually pump oxygen for their children

Khan sacked

Dr Rajeev Mishra, principal of the BRD medical college, has also resigned after he was suspended on Saturday. According to PTI, Mishra was suspended following the death of 30 infants within a span of 48 hours since 10 August. Mishra resigned from his post to take moral responsibility for the incident.

Dr PK Singh, principal of Rajkiya Medical College in Ambedkar Nagar, has been given additional charge of BRD Medical College.

According to a report by the Hindustan Times, Dr Khan and Dr Mishra were responsible for ensuring a steady supply of oxygen cylinders in the medical college.

Khan was also a member of the purchase committee of the medical college and had complete information about pending dues of Pushpa Sales, the Lucknow-based company that supplies oxygen cylinders to the medical college.

HT quoted sources saying that Khan knew of the dire situation before it got out of hand and has been removed from the post on charges of dereliction of duty and carrying out private practice.