Buxar: When floodwaters cut off villages and hospitals became difficult to reach, doctors and medical teams took healthcare to the doorsteps of those in distress in the district. Travelling by boats through inundated areas, they have been treating patients, rescuing pregnant women and delivering medicines — offering not just medical care but a sense of hope to thousands battling the crisis.“Babua sahi mein doctors ke bhagwan kahe jaa kahal jala. Aaj hamra ee bujha gayil (it is rightly said doctors are like God, today I realise this),” said Ramrati Devi of Chandrapura village in Simri block. Her pregnant daughter-in-law was rescued by a boat ambulance on Thursday after the family sought medical help.According to Buxar civil surgeon Dr Shiv Prasad Chakravarti, more than 9,000 flood-affected people have received medical assistance from the teams so far. As many as 16 pregnant women have also been rescued and provided medical care or shifted to safer health facilities.Medical teams are working in villages including Nainijore, Dhabhi and Chandrapura. Six pregnant women who required medical attention or other assistance were shifted to the Community Health Centre (CHC) at Brahmpur.Around 10 women whose expected dates of delivery were within a week were also shifted to Brahmpur as a precautionary measure.The medical teams are working under instructions issued by the civil surgeon. Medical officers in charge, doctors and paramedical staff have been coordinating the rescue and treatment efforts.At present, 15 medical teams are camping in 15 flood-affected village across the district. In addition, five boat ambulances have been deployed in Simri and Brahmpur blocks to ferry patients and pregnant women from inundated areas.A special medical team has also been stationed at Nainijore on the Buxar-Koilwar embankment. The team treats around 70 patients every day with most cases involving cold and cough, fever and water-related foot infections. Medicines are being distributed to patients free of cost.For residents cut off by floodwaters, the presence of doctors close to their homes has brought much-needed reassurance.“We were frightened because there was no easy way to reach the hospital. The doctors came to us and gave medicines. We are thankful to the entire medical team,” said a resident of a flood-hit village.The Buxar district administration has also shown a humanitarian face during the crisis. Recently, a woman with learning difficulties, lying near Naya Bhojpur with her four-year-old sick child, was provided assistance by Dumraon Nagar Parishad executive officer Rahul Dhar Dubey.The woman and child were first admitted to Dumraon Sub-divisional Hospital and later shifted to Buxar Sadar Hospital. On Friday, both were reported to be safe and receiving medical assistance.The coordinated response by the district administration, doctors, paramedical workers and local officials has provided a vital lifeline to people trapped by the floods.
