CHENNAI: A major fire broke out at the Bradfield Surgical Block in the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai on Wednesday morning. Around 128 patients, who were in the block which is over 100 years old, were safely evacuated to nearby buildings by firemen, doctors, nurses, and members of the public.
As many as 15 people including six postgraduate doctors and four staff nurses, have been admitted to the hospital’s Intermediate Care Unit (ICMU) after inhaling the thick smoke that engulfed the premises, the hospital’s dean Dr E Theranirajan said. “Twelve have been discharged.
The condition of the other three is stable,” he said. Many bystanders on the campus too complained of eye irritation. The fire is suspected to have been caused by a short circuit. According to Theranirajan, it was a surgical store officer who alerted him of smoke coming out of a store room at the block.
O2 Cylinders Removed to prevent blasts
The room also houses the billing section of MRI and CT scan facilities, a kitchen store room, Ortho septic ward, radiation oncology and neurology medical wards on the first floor, and a neurology ward on the second floor. “I went along with the doctors and other staff, and started shifting patients from the first floor. First, we switched off the power.
There were three patients in the Neuro ICU, and 30 patients in the general neuro ward. We shifted all of them,” the dean said. “At least 20 more oxygen cylinders were safely removed. Else, they could have exploded,” a fireman said. The 108 ambulance services were alerted and kept stand by. The witnesses said smoke spread outside the hospital.
‘Oxygen cylinders exploded’
About 14 fire and rescue service vehicles and around 10 water tankers were called in. Fire personnel struggled for over four hours to bring the blaze under control. One of the rescue personnel said two oxygen cylinders in the storeroom exploded while they were trying to douse the fire
(With inputs from Gautham Selvarajan)