BETTIAH: Shortage of medical staff came to the fore at the Bagaha sub-divisional hospital in West Champaran district after a security guard was asked to assist doctors in stitching the injuries of road accident victims amid an unexpected rush of patients on Monday.The injured were identified as Wasim Akhtar, a pickup van driver, and Surendra Pasi, both residents of Jatahan Bhairganj Bazaar under the Jatahan police station area in Uttar Pradesh.Wasim Akhtar said the accident took place near a gas agency at Shastri Nagar on National Highway-727 along the Bagaha–Bettiah main road. “A tempo and our pickup van collided head-on, overturning our vehicle on the road. Two of us were injured, while the tempo driver fled the spot with the vehicle,” he said.Eyewitnesses rushed the injured to the sub-divisional hospital, where multiple accident cases arrived at nearly the same time. With no dressers or operating theater staff available and a shortage of nurses and doctors, a security guard stepped in to assist with basic suturing under supervision.Defending the move, deputy superintendent Ashok Kumar Tiwari cited manpower shortages. “Neither OT staff nor dressers have been appointed at the hospital so far. GNM staff and doctors are also short. As more than five accident victims arrived simultaneously, the guard helped as a supportive measure,” he said.
