Mob fury: Pune hospitals eye ‘bouncers’

Think twice before picking up an argument or trying to damage any hospital property in Pune. That’s because many city hospitals have hired the services of muscular ‘bouncers’ to ward off any attacks on doctors or hospital staff by irate mobs.

Fed up of constant attacks on doctors by irate relatives of patients, hospital administrations have hit upon this unique idea. This special group of security guards are stationed at sensitive points in the hospital such as trauma and emergency units, critical care units and labour rooms where such attacks are known to happen.

Last year in October, relatives of an accident victim roughed up doctors and nurses in the intensive care unit at Jehangir Hospital and even forcibly took possession of his body. Ever since then, the sight of a well-built, muscular man in black uniform (distinct from other security staff) is not uncommon outside these sensitive areas in the hospital.

CEO George Eapen said that the bouncers are not posted to intimidate visitors. “We hire them from same security agency that supplies rest of security staff. The duty of our security staff is to ensure relatives don’t crowd, bags are checked, authorised people are moving in wards and patients’ safety. However, this group of security staff is to ensure safety of doctors and hospital property,” he said.

“These bouncers have some special skills in handling mobs and situations that can go out of hand,” Eapen said.

Chinchwad’s Aditya Birla Hospital too is no stranger to mob attacks, the last such episode being in July when an argument broke out between relatives of a dead patient and hospital staff over delay in releasing body of the deceased.

The hospital’s COO Rekha Dubey said that they hired bouncers recently in interest of all concerned. “It has been noticed that when people who come with patients, especially critical patients, tend to loose their cool or gather in the emergency room. When someone dies in the hospital, relatives often start blaming, even attacking the doctor in-charge as well as the billing in-charge,” she added.

“They at times cause damage to the property in their anger and also hurt other patients and their families. That’s why our hospital has employed a set of bouncers to ensure safety of everyone including our property,” she added.

While some hospitals have already employed their services, a few others are thinking on same lines but unable to get bouncers.

“We have been trying to get bouncers for quite sometime now. When we say bouncers, we obviously mean well-built, formidable looking men trained for purpose of breaking up crisis situations,”  said Bomi Bhote, CEO, Ruby Hall Clinic.

“Unfortunately, there seems to be some kind of shortage and those available are already in service, mostly at pubs. They refuse to work in night shifts, most vulnerable time when our hospital staff needs support,” Bhote added.