PGIMER fire: We rolled ICU patients into blankets and bedsheets

“We took oxygen cylinders, bedsheets and blankets, broke the windows and went inside the ICU. To protect the patients, we rolled them into the blankets and then called a hydraulic crane,” recalls Dr Chauhan.

The doctors carried AMBU bags, oxygen cylinders and other life saving equipment and the patients were connected with portable life-saving equipment. As they could not be carried out on stretchers, all patients were lifted up by the crane, one at a time and shifted to the ICU of Nehru Hospital Extension (NHE).

“It’s an old building so it’s susceptible to fires and it’s not possible to get the latest equipment here. We were there just in time. As these patients were on ventilator, they needed to be evacuated, or else there could have been a casualty. But it was all a team work. No-one could have done this alone,” says Dr Chauhan.

‘Last night was a miracle, our staff went beyond call of duty’

PGI Director, Professor Vivek Lal, on Tuesday lauded the response of officials, doctors, firefighters and others, of coming together as a team in response to the blaze that had broken out at the institute late on Monday night. Lal on also touched upon how the hospital was now planning to put in additional fire safety measures, as well as finalising a space for shifting the batteries — supposed to be the culprit for Monday night’s blaze — outside the hospital premises.

“I can only describe last night as a miracle. All patients, who are the most vulnerable in such situations, were evacuated and there was no loss of life. Our doctors acted swiftly and coordinated with each other to save lives. They went beyond the call of duty, without considering their own safety, and evacuate everyone, including several newborns,” Lal said.

He added that the fire safety drills and training of staff all came in handy in aiding the prompt response and rescue operation. “Now that we know that a short circuit in the batteries was the cause, we will have to find a way to shift these off the hospital premises,” he said.

The Nehru Hospital building is more than 60 years old, and there are some fire systems which cannot be installed here. But, the director pointed out that it wasn’t the wiring in the building that caused the fire, but a bunch of batteries. He said that there has been no fire incident in the Bhargava Auditorium, despite that being such an old building, as the panels for oxygen and electric points there are separate and that is a big safety point.

“As for the loss of machinery, damage to the building and the window panes, all of that can be salvaged. However, a life once lost cannot be got back. We are a government hospital and there are many constraints of space, money. Yet our focus is our patients. The presence of mind of our staff, the commitment, the support of the administration, the Chandigarh DC — all of this contributed to the safety of patients. The department of gynae is open now, and the children who were in the ICU are being shifted back. We referred no patients to other hospitals. God has been kind. Even in Covid, the Nehru Hospital Extension proved to be such a saviour, and yet again, we had our patients evacuated and shifted to the hospital extension in our hour of need on Monday night,” said the director.

(With inputs from Parul)