CUTTACK: The quick action by first responders and hospital staff helped take the edge off the fire mishap at SCB MCH that could have turned even more massive and claimed several other lives.
Fighting thick smoke and risking their own lives, volunteers, nursing staff and security personnel rushed in to rescue patients and shift them to safer locations.
“We were working in the casualty ward on the ground floor when one of the security staff informed us about the fire mishap,” said 24-year-old Sritam Rout, a Sahaya volunteer supporting the care of destitute patients in the casualty ward of the trauma care centre.
Recalling the horrific incident, he said by the time they reached the spot, the flames had already spread and the entire ICU was filled with thick smoke. “However, along with a few other volunteers and staff, I entered the ICU and we tried our best to rescue as many patients as possible before the fire spread further,” Rout said.
He added that by the time one or two patients were rescued, the fire brigade arrived and began efforts to contain the blaze. However, the smoke inside the ICU remained heavy. “To shift critically ill patients, many of whom were on ventilator support, we used life-saving Ambu bags and tried our best to rescue as many patients as we could,” the 24-year-old said.
Bibekananda Sethi, a nursing officer working on an outsourcing basis in the casualty ward of the trauma care centre, said they heard a loud siren at around 2.45 am and immediately rushed to the first floor. “It was a critical situation. Thick smoke had filled the ICU and visibility was extremely poor. As time was running out, we did not think about our own safety and entered the ICU to rescue the patients,” he said.
Sethi said they did not count the number of patients rescued during the operation. “There was a risk of burn injuries and suffocation, but our goal was to evacuate all from the ICU as quickly as possible,” he said.
One of the rescue staff said situation in the 118-bed five-storey building quickly turned chaotic after the fire broke out. The lift went out of order as patients and attendants from across the building started vacating the premises. There was also rush on the staircase, making stretcher pathway the main route for rescue operation.
Many responders who carried out the rescue operation later experienced breathing problems and a drop in oxygen saturation levels.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi visited them after taking stock of the fire mishap on the spot.
