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Journalism of Courage
This is an archive article published on April 20, 2022
Newborns die at Rajasthan government hospital after radiant warmers get overheated
Officials said that the on-duty nursing staff was not present at the ward when the voltage fluctuation occurred.
The infants were kept at the sick newborn care unit (SNCU) of the government-run Amrit Kaur Hospital, Beawar, said officials. (Representational Image)
Two infants, aged eleven and four days, died at a government-run hospital Monday night in Rajasthan’s Ajmer district after the radiant warmers meant to keep them warm got overheated due to a voltage fluctuation following a power cut. The infants were kept at the sick newborn care unit (SNCU) of the government-run Amrit Kaur Hospital, Beawar, said officials.
“Premature babies are kept inside radiant warmers to maintain their body temperature. A power cut had taken place and owing to that, there was a fluctuation in the voltage and as a result, the motherboard got burnt. While the appropriate voltage for the warmer is 230 volts, due to the power fluctuation, the voltage shot up to 332 volts. It led to the overheating of the warmers, leading to the death of the infants,” said Dr K L Meena, director, Family Welfare.
Officials said that the on-duty nursing staff was not present at the ward when the voltage fluctuation occurred. “It was the duty of the nursing staff to maintain the voltage. But at the time, the nursing staff had stepped out of the SNCU. We have suspended the person concerned and have also put the in-charge doctor on ‘awaiting posting orders’,” said Dr Meena.
Following the incident on Monday night, Dr Meena and other health department officials went to the hospital in Beawar to inquire about the incident on the instructions of Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena.
“One of the two infants was a girl child. While one was born on April 7, the other was born on April 14. Among the two, one was a premature baby while the other had a low birth rate. That is why they were kept inside the SNCU. They were underweight too, with one of the infants being 1.2 kg and the other being 1.4 kg,” said Surendra Singh Chouhan, Principal Medical Officer (PMO), Beawar.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia criticised the Congress government in the state over the incident. Taking to Twitter, Poonia said, “Will people attain longevity only through the announcement of the Chiranjeevi Yojana or will there be some arrangement for it?” The Chiranjeevi Yojana is a flagship health insurance scheme of the Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government.
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