Explosion in equipment could have triggered fire that killed newborns
The fire that took the lives of 10 newborn children on Saturday could have been sparked by an explosion in one of the radiant warmers kept at the Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of Bhandara District General Hospital, Maharashtra, officials involved with the probe have indicated. This is, however, the preliminary finding and the final reason is yet to be ascertained. Here's more.
The radiant warmer kept in the neonatal section burst into flames on the fateful day, reports IE. It caused the first of the two deafening sounds. In the subsequent fire, 10 out of the 17 babies admitted to the ward died. One seven-day-old infant, who was taken to the hospital from the road by police, "was found burnt like coal," the report added.
Inside the neonatal section, radiant warmers were placed in a row. The seven-day-old premature baby was kept in one to maintain body temperature. As per the report, this warmer was completely destroyed while the ones on each side were also damaged. Notably, an audit of equipment in the ward was conducted in September 2020 and it was found that they are in good condition.
Dr. Sadhana Tayade, the Director of the Directorate of Heath Services (DHS), who is leading the six-member committee formed for investigation, refused to comment on the primary reason for the blaze. "We will submit the report in a few days. At this point, we cannot comment on how or where the fire started. But we will go into each and every detail," she asserted.
While an audit was conducted not long ago, it was revealed that this inspection didn't include fire safety. In fact, the health facility was devoid of a comprehensive fire system. There were four fire extinguishers — one for each floor — but the hospital staff hadn't been provided operational training. The last mock fire drill was conducted in 2016-17.
Furthermore, a proposal to install a new fire system has been awaiting the state government's nod since May 2020. The district administration's proposal was approved by Deputy Director, Health, Nagpur, and was subsequently sent to Tayade, but she never gave the green signal. It was only after the tragedy that Health Minister Rajesh Tope assured the proposal will be approved.
"The civil surgeon wrote to the National Institute of Fire Safety Engineering in Nagpur twice for a fire audit. But the institute did not conduct it. The previous government should not have started the SNCU without complying with fire norms," Tope claimed.
The grieving families held the hospital responsible for the mishap, quite naturally. Those close to Geeta and Vishwanath Behere, whose two-month-old daughter died in the fire, claimed no doctor or nurse was around at the time of the accident. Likewise, the kin of Vandana Sidam, whose daughter was shifted to the district hospital over weight issues, demanded action against officials who ignored safety norms.
