Family fatally unplugs COVID ventilator to plug-in air cooler
<p>A man who was suspected of having coronavirus has died after family members allegedly unplugged the ventilator he was connected to so they could plug in an air cooler. </p>
<p>The 40-year-old man was admitted to the intensive care unit of Maharao Bhim Singh Hospital in Kota, Rajasthan in India on 13th June.</p>
<p>According to<em> </em><a rel="noopener" href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kota-hospital-ventilator-covid-19-6466969/" target="_blank" class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtflink"><em>The Indian Express</em></a>, he was shifted into an isolation ward on 15th June after another patient in the ICU tested positive for coronavirus.</p>
<p>His family members visited and brought along an air cooler with them, but were unable to find an extra socket to plug it into.</p>
<p>It's alleged that they unplugged the man's ventilator which ran out of power half an hour later.</p>
<p>The family members alerted medical staff who performed CPR, but the man died.</p>
<p>Hospital superintendent Dr Naveen Sazena said that a three-member hospital committee would investigate the incident and report on the patient's cause of death.</p>
<p>It is currently unclear why family members were able to visit a patient in the isolation ward.</p>
<p>The family had brought the air cooler as the hospital's air conditioning had been turned off to limit the spread of coronavirus. </p>
<p>Temperatures inside the hospital reportedly were around the 40-degree mark as a result, but the family members did not ask medical staff for permission to use the air cooling unit. </p>
