OPD, routine surgeries hit at Delhi’s Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital due to power disruption

“I was on duty in the administrative block when I heard a few loud blasts. The power got cut immediately. When I called to check with the guard outside the building, he said there was a short circuit in the main power supply board. There was quite a big fire and two fire tenders had come,” said a hospital guard, on condition of anonymity.

Another guard added, “This is a temporary supply that has been drawn from the main power line. The emergency department and some wards have power connection, but there cannot be too much load on this line.”

They said that patients coming to the OPD clinics on Saturday were turned away at the gate as there was no power, and the computers for registration of these patients were not functioning. “If they cannot be issued an OPD card, how can the OPD run?” one of the guards said.

Although the emergency department was fully functional on Saturday, patients said they faced problems in getting admitted to the ICU. Pankaj Kumar’s 72-year-old mother has been in the general ward for nearly 10 days now. She had breathing difficulty owing to a worsening COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease).

“Today morning, doctors said she will need to be admitted to the ICU. However, they said they cannot take in any new ICU patients till the power supply is restored. They said they could refer me to a nearby hospital. I decided to wait for the supply to be restored because I have faith in this hospital,” said Kumar. He, however, added that with the main supply line yet to be restored, he might just have to take his mother elsewhere.

Javed’s wife was to have a baby on Friday. When she went into labour, she called him up and asked him to get candles. “There was no electricity, everything was completely dark yesterday. So, the doctors asked us to get candles for the delivery room.”

He said his brother’s wife, who also had her child on Friday night, needed blood but he couldn’t get it. “Before the delivery, doctors said they might need blood. We went to the blood bank with all the documents, but they said they cannot give blood until the power is restored. We couldn’t get an admission slip for her till 11 pm last night, after the power was restored. Today I could not get medicines for my wife. They claim they need the power supply for it all,” he claimed.

He added that many patients who were stable were discharged yesterday. A nurse on duty in ward 1 said several patients decided to leave on their own once they came to know of the power cut.

A senior doctor from the hospital, on condition of anonymity, said that as a precaution, 14 patients had been transferred out of the hospital on Friday. Of these, three were admitted to the hospital ICU and one was slated for emergency surgery.

“There are backup power sources in all critical areas such as the ICU and this kicked in during the power cut. The most important thing is that there were no mishaps,” the doctor said.

The hospital’s medical director, Dr Navnit Goel, did not respond to several calls and text messages sent over Friday and Saturday.