Our member, Mr R. Banerjee, resident of Durgapur, had a fall and fractured his leg. He needed to undergo surgery at the earliest. A negative blood, a relatively rare blood group, had to be arranged for the surgery, as he had very low haemoglobin count. Immediately, Mr G. Pradhan, ARC, along with 2 other staff members, Mr. B. B. Ganguly and Mr N. Haque, tried to arrange the blood. It was not available in Durgapur and its surrounding areas. When they learnt that the blood was available in Bolpur, they went to Bolpur to procure it. The authorities cautioned them that the blood could not be wrapped with a direct ice pack and instructed them to put it in a big flask with a few pieces of ice. They managed to procure a flask and do as instructed. For the next transfusion, since, even the blood bank in Bolpur didn’t have the required blood group, they found a person of the same blood group. Our member had a successful operation and is now recovering at home. Kudos to the team for their sheer dedication to serve and determination to take on any challenge that comes their way.

Our member, Ms K. Banerjee, had not been feeling well for a couple of days. Her son was in touch with her doctor and when their doctor suggested immediate hospitalisation, she contacted our Kolkata Alarm Centre on 23rd August 2021. Mr B. K. Burman, Member Care Associate (MCA), was informed as per process and he reached the member’s residence around 11 a.m. in the morning. On reaching her preferred hospital, the MCA deposited the required form and money and went to talk to the doctor, who advised CT scan and a few diagnostic tests. The MCA accompanied Ms Banerjee for all the tests and admitted her in the hospital. He then waited for the doctor to come and check her; collected all her belongings; explained the medicines that she takes regularly to the on-duty nursing attendant; and left the hospital around 4.30 p.m. He signed off only after going to the member’s house and handing over the extra cash and belongings.

We received an emergency call at our Kolkata Alarm Centre (ALCO) around midnight on 7th July, 2021. Our member Ms S. Gupta was having breathing difficulties and needed immediate help. The ALCO team located Mr S Biswas, Member Care Associate (MCA), who was on duty then, provided him the details of the member’s location and asked him to go there immediately. When Mr Biswas reached there around 12.10 a.m., he found that the member’s daughter was very worried and her attendant rather nervous because it was so late at night. As soon as the ambulance reached, the member, her daughter and attendant were asked to sit in the ambulance while Mr Biswas escorted them to their preferred hospital in the same locality. Once they reached the hospital, the MCA, without wasting any time, managed to speak with the emergency on-duty doctor so that immediate action could be taken. Ms Gupta was given oxygen and admitted in the emergency ward. He then accompanied Ms Gupta’s daughter and helped her with the formalities and arranged for an immediate RT-PCR test as per current protocol. The MCA left the hospital after apprising his Zonal Coordinator, Mr A. Bhattacharya, all the details.

Being unable to contact one’s loved ones can be very worrisome…more so when it is our elderly parents. On 6th July, Mr B. K. Basu Roy Chowdhury’s daughter could not contact her parents, as whenever she was dialling their number some unknown person was receiving the call. Initially, she had thought it was a network issue but when she could not contact them till 10.30 p.m., she got worried and called Mr G Ghosh, the member’s Zonal Coordinator (ZC). The ZC asked her not to worry and tried to call the member. When the same thing happened to him, he informed Mr S Ghosh, who was then at the Alarm Centre, and Mr S. Saha, Member Care Associate (MCA), was asked to check on Mr Basu Roy Chowdhury immediately. It was 10.40 p.m. when the MCA rang the doorbell and Mr Basu Roy Chowdhury opened the door. The MCA was relieved to see that the member was fine. The MCA then called up Mr Basu Roy Chowdhury’s daughter from his mobile and handed over the phone to the member so that his daughter could speak with him. Mr Basu Roy Chowdhury’s daughter was very happy with the help provided by Support Elders and thanked the organisation for the help.