Major fire breaks out at PGI Nehru Hospital block; 424 patients, including 56 newborns, rescued

The C-block, where the fire broke out on Monday, has five levels, and houses the dialysis unit, adult kidney unit, renal transplant unit, female medical ward, male medical ward, gynae, maternity, nursery and neonatal intensive care unit, bone marrow transplant and operation theatres which function 24×7.

On Monday night, the fire alarms went off at around 11.45 pm and as per Dr Sameer Aggarwal, professor, Department of Orthopedics, and chairman of the committee that was constituted six months ago by hospital director by Dr Vivek Lal for fire safety audit in PGI, the major flames were restricted till the building’s third floor. Thick smoke, however, managed to travel to the fourth and fifth floor of the hospital, prompting an evacuation in those areas.

Aggarwal said that a 14-member committee, under the chairmanship of Dean (academics) Professor Naresh Panda, had been formed to determine the exact cause of the fire and to work out an action plan to avoid the rerun of such an incident in the future.

As per details, as soon as the fire was first noticed, security officers, fire officers and staff members — including faculty, residents, staff nurses and subordinate staff of PGI — swung into action immediately, helping rescue and evacuate patients from areas. Six fire tenders were also dispatched from Chandigarh fire station to help contain the blaze.

Prof Vivek Lal, the director of PGI, along with senior faculty members and administrative officers, too, immediately rushed to the spot, with officials from the hospital’s fire and engineering wings taking immediate action to provide all needed care and support for patients and helping in their evacuation.

An official said that patients from the C Block were shifted to two different areas of Nehru Hospital and Nehru Hospital Extension Block.

The smoke and heat spread to the corridors due to which the patients from adjoining areas that housed Advanced Urology Centre, male surgical ward were also shifted to the safer places to avoid any sort of suffocation. The entire evacuation process took within 60 minutes and no one was injured or hurt in the fire.

As of now, PGI authorities said that the areas that had been affected by the fire will require major repair work and the functioning of the OTs and other facilities are expected to be hit for sometime at least. At present, alternative arrangements have been made in other areas of PGI, Advanced Trauma Centre and Nehru Hospital Extension and OTs for tending to patients.

Major tragedy averted

As per details, the quick thinking of the hospital staff helped avert a major tragedy on Monday, as the fire spread within the hospital premises. As per eyewitnesses, the PGI staff — including security personnel and attendants of patients — were quick to react to the situation and broke all glass panes of the windows, letting the smoke out and ensuring that the patients did not suffocate and the fire did not spread to floors above and was contained. The kitchen staff disconnected the regulators of the gas cylinders.

The fire officer of PGI,also was prompt in responding to the fire alarm and starting the fire hydrants at the hospital. He also, in the meantime, contacted Chandigarh Fire Department that dispatched at least six fire tenders to the spot within minutes. UT Deputy Commissioner, Vinay Pratap Singh, too rushed to the hospital and was present at the site throughout the evacuation process.
Doctors and residents evacuated five patients who were on ventilators on the fifth floor with the help of cranes, while continuously providing oxygen support, protecting the patients
from fire with blankets and bedsheets and then putting them back on ventilators in Nehru Hospital

Extension

A bunch of doctors and nurses also rushed to open the wards, OTs, and other empty areas of the Nehru Hospital Extension to admit evacuated patients and restart their treatment. An official said that the fire broke out late in the night, which meant that the parking area of Nehru Hospital was free of vehicles, patient and attendant rush. This proved a boon for the fire tenders that arrived at the scene and could get unhindered access to fire-ravaged parts of the institute. Later on Tuesday, the computers and the Hospital Information System were restored before 8 am, ensuring work at OPDs were not hampered.