LUCKNOW: In a tragic event, two individuals, including a five-week-old infant diagnosed with congenital heart disease and a middle-aged woman with parathyroid tumours, lost their lives due to suffocation during a fire that erupted in the Operation Theatre (OT) of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) on Monday. Additionally, two other patients suffered burns as a result of the incident.
While taking cognizance of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed senior officers and fire brigade teams to reach the spot and carry out relief work expeditiously, Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak ordered a high-level enquiry headed by the principal secretary, medical, health and family welfare department, Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma.
The incident was reported at the combined OT Complex (comprising 13 OTs) located on the first floor of the old building causing panic among patients, attendants, and hospital staff on duty.
According to the director, of SGPGIMS, Prof RK Dhiman, an OT monitor (that measures a patient’s vital) had a short circuit leading to the fire which spread to the connected anaesthesia workstation causing a blast.
The staff on duty doused the fire using a hose pipe but the incident caused panic. However, the sources claimed that the anaesthesia workstation was being used for the woman who died in the incident.
“A detailed probe would reveal the actual cause of her death but the machine that developed snag was being used on her when the incident took place, said the sources.
The incident took place in the afternoon and the fire department was alarmed by the PGI at around 12.58 pm. According to Jugal Kishore, IG Fire Department, four fire tenders were instantly rushed to the spot.
“The fire had spread to the entire first floor which we could control in about half an hour,” said the officer who also reached the site to supervise rescue work.
He added that the ‘exact cause of the fire was a matter of investigation.’ The sources added that it took about two hours to clear the smoke. Ten persons, including a five-month-old baby, some patients and their attendants were evacuated in the initial phase of rescue. And later, at least a hundred others in the complex were moved to a safe place. The entire operation lasted for about two hours.
Reacting to the incident, Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak said: “The incident is very unfortunate and tragic. The government is with the families of the victims. Instructions have been issued to conduct safety audits of all government hospitals and operation theatres across the state, including SGPGI.”