Editor,
It is a danger lurking and before anyone loses a life it is better safe than sorry. The entrance at Civil Hospital in Shillong is a disaster in waiting and it is due to the blind eye of the hospital authorities and the district administration that shops are allowed to pile with people near the entrance.
As per rules of emergency services, the entry to the nearest trauma centre should be free of any impediments especially while transporting patients. I have watched ambulances during emergency rush inside putting in danger people around and most importantly the people who buy food from outside the hospital compound.
There seems to be no sanitary waste baskets or even safety measures on this point. Though shops are not allowed near the gate of a hospital, it seems both the shopkeepers and the hospital authorities are willing to risk life and limb. God forbid if an accident were to happen on unsuspecting people then the consequences would be worse.
Dominic S. Wankhar
Shillong
