Could Akriti have been saved?

The family of a 18-year-old girl is going through its worst nightmare. Akriti died died on her way to hospital from school after she had an asthma attack and her parents have now filed a complaint against the school authorities.

They say Akriti could have been saved, but the school says it did all it could.

What really happened is still unclear, but it has thrown up a larger question. Are schools in Delhi adequately equipped to handle medical emergencies? The big fear that looms large in the mind is - are there more such tragedies waiting to happen?

Akriti's family is trying to look for answers.

Several schools in Delhi have held emergency meetings since Akriti's death to ensure that nothing like this happens again.

The Delhi Public School in South Delhi on Wednesday started compulsory medical check ups.

"If a child has just returned from clinic, he should first go to the clinic to know whether they are fit to attend. We are careful to be very prompt with nebulisers and oxygen cylinders. There have been times when the oxygen has made its way to even classrooms," says Shyama Chona, Principal, DPS, RK Puram.

Many have  decided to issue students new medical cards charting every health problem of the student, big or small, physical or psychological.

But do they have proper equipment? Some like DPS have nebulizers, oxygen cylinders but many others don't.

Asthma is a growing disease. Almost 10 per cent of students in Delhi schools are asthmatic. The pollution levels in Delhi have gone to 694 which has doubled in the last few months leading to asthmatics suffering more.

"People have to recognise that asthma is a killer and needs to be treated. Nurses in the sick bay in schools must be trained to identify different types of asthma," put forth Dr Neeraj Jain, Senior Consultant at the Department of Chest Medicine, Ganga Ram Hospital.

In case of an Asthma attack doctors say, take these steps:

• Immediately administer nebulizer and oxygen
• Keep this going
• Call for an ambulance and take the child to hospital immediately

Hopefully these measures will help avoid tragedies like Akriti's death.