Ladakh LG defers official engagement to enable air evacuation of critical patient

Leh: Lt Governor of Ladakh Kavinder Gupta on Tuesday deferred an official programme to facilitate the emergency air evacuation of a critically ill patient from Leh to Srinagar, officials said.

The gesture was warmly welcomed by Ladakh BJP president Khachu Tashi who praised the LG for demonstrating exemplary humanitarian leadership by prioritising a medical emergency over an official programme.

The officials said Gupta was scheduled to take part in an official event this morning but decided to defer the programme after receiving a request for airlifting of a 67-year-old critically ill patient from SNM hospital Leh to Soura Medical Institute in Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir).

On December 12, the Lt Governor inaugurated the newly expanded B-3 helicopter services in the region to improve connectivity, promote tourism and strengthen emergency support in remote areas of the Union Territory.

This was the second time within the past two weeks that a critically ill patient was shifted to hospital using the recently launched service. Earlier, one patient was airlifted from Nubra to Leh hospital.

“We are thankful to the Lt Governor and his administration for the helicopter service which is very crucial in saving lives of critically ill patients. Yesterday, we had a 67-year-old critically ill patient from Takhmachik village who was suffering from multiple ailments,” Medical Superintendent, SNM hospital Leh, Rinchen Chosdol said.

She said the acute emergency part was his gangrenous hernia, had chronic liver disease, filling water in the lungs and in the stomach and a heart problem.

“After the damage control, we gave a requisition to shift the patient to a tertiary level as soon as possible. After the requisition, we sent a letter to the Deputy Commissioner’s office. We do not have any tie-up with PGI, and Srinagar seems very comfortable for us. The patient also preferred Srinagar,” the doctor said.

She said the Lt Governor postponed his official visit and accordingly, the patient was airlifted and admitted in Srinagar hospital.

“The patient is stable now. I would like to say a big thank you to Lt Governor for cancelling the flight and giving preference to the patient,” she said.

“On the request of Khachu, the LG altered his scheduled travel plan and ensured that a critically ill patient was airlifted to Srinagar for advanced medical treatment, placing human life above protocol,” Ladakh BJP said in a post on X.