CUTTACK: AN elderly woman under treatment for burn injuries at SCB Medical College and Hospital (MCH) was critically injured when a ceiling fan snapped and fell on her on Monday. The woman Parbati Das of Krushna Nagar in Jajpur was admitted to the surgery ward on Friday. The ceiling fan came down on her at around 8 am. Suffering critical injuries, she was shifted to the ICU in the Trauma care unit of the MCH.
Attendant of Parbati said the fan began wobbling and made a screeching noise as it was switched on. “Though everyone in the ward had brought the matter to the notice of the staff, nothing was done,” he alleged and added that instead of asking the electricians to attend to the problem, the staff asked them not to tamper with the ward’s equipment. Superintendent Prof Lucy Das said the patient’s condition is now stable and a team of doctors is monitoring her treatment.
Sources said although many ceiling fans in the SCB MCH are in bad shape, the general electrical division (GED) under the Works department has taken no step to replace them. Assistant Executive Engineer, GED, Soumen Sahoo, however, said the old ceiling fan was in an unsafe condition and surgery ward authorities were advised not to use it. “After the mishap, we have installed a new fan replacing the old suspension rod,” Sahoo said.