Sangli eye disaster averted in Tamil Nadu

The boys were later released after being charged with a Rs 75 fine for a petty case. “The water is used by surgeons in the main theatre to wash hands. There are numerous measures to check any kind of infection in the theatre, but had the water been used, the result would have been another Sangli. You can purify water contaminated to any level and drink. But no one bacteria or fungus could be allowed inside an operation theatre, that too when you are doing an eye surgery,” a hospital source told The Indian Express.

RIO conducts about 120 cataract surgeries everyday. The hospital has performed 7,000 surgeries so far this financial year, against the target of 16,000. One of the hospital doctors spotted four boys standing on the terrace of the theatre building. Two of them ran away when a watchman went up to investigate and he found the others swimming in the water tank.

Police were called and the two boys were taken into custody. Following the incident, additional purifiers have been fitted on taps supplying water to the RIO operation theatres. Water samples are also sent everyday to the King Institute for analysis. Swabs are taken from various spots inside the theatre for culture to detect fungus, if any. Surgical instruments are tested for sterility using `signalag paper’ which changes colour from white to black if sterilisation is complete.

In fact, infection can surpass umpteen sterilisation measures, so much so that one infection in a thousand cases is an accepted level. Despite the government setting up a network of 25 base eye wards with operating microscopes in sterile and reasonably equipped operation theatres in the state, such threat perceptions persist. The RIO, the oldest and the biggest government eye hospital in the state, has just two watchmen to man the main building. Of the six watchmen, two each are posted in the new building and quarters.

Hospital authorities said they are unable to stop people from the nearby slums from misusing hospital facilities. Two openings, big enough to let a person in, were noticed on the rear wall of the hospital recently. The holes were sealed, but the bricks started fell off the next day. Some of the slum-dwellers sleep and bathe in the hospital premises, as the watchmen stand helpless. Senior officials in the health sector said authorities have been informed about the incident and are initiating strict measures to prevent it from reoccurring.