Fire engulfs intensive care unit at Jhansi Medical College: A tragedy in the state’s healthcare system
On Friday, November 15, a tragic fire broke out in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Rani Laxmibai Medical College in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh between 10.30pm and 10.45pm. The panic to contain the fire while rescuing babies from the NICU led to mass panic in the hospital. Families, staff and doctors rushed to the NICU, trying to save as many babies as possible. The fire department was quickly on site during the rescue work.
Families, staff and doctors rushed to the NICU, trying to save as many babies as possible. The fire department was quickly on site during the rescue work.
Despite all efforts, ten of the 54 babies died that same night from burns and suffocation. 44 babies were rescued, but unfortunately two more infants have since died from fatal injuries and 14 babies are still being treated for extremely critical health conditions.
Chief Fire Officer Raj Kishore Rai said, “The fire was caused by a short circuit in the oxygen concentrator and what actually led to it is being investigated at multiple levels.”
What started as a small spark quickly spread throughout the NICU due to the plastic-covered equipment and the presence of an “oxygen concentrator.”
Source: The Hindu
Sachin Mahor, Chief Medical Officer commented“Attempts were made to extinguish the fire, but as the room was heavily oxygenated, the fire spread quickly.”
The horrific fire may have been accidental and rare, but it has exposed some systemic deficiencies in the state’s public health system, its neglect, inadequate funding and lack of accountability.
The overcrowded neonatal intensive care unit
The NICU at Rani Laxmibai Medical College caters to patients from several districts in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The hospital is constantly overcrowded, requiring staff to overfill a single incubator.
Dr. NS Sengar, Rector of the Faculty of Medicine confirmed that the neonatal intensive care unit far exceeded its full capacity of 18 people. Acknowledging the overcrowding where two to three babies were being treated in one incubator, he added, “This is the condition in many hospitals across Uttar Pradesh and since the incubators have adequate space, this is how we are managing the high influx of patients .”
Operating an ICU at triple capacity directly impacts patient safety and quality of care while creating a difficult environment for staff to manage these “adjustments.”
Looking at this emergency scenario, rescue operations were hampered due to overcrowding, putting even more lives at risk in the NICU, which was only meant to hold 18 babies.
Only the government can solve these problems through fair funding and resource allocation.
Public hospitals serve as a lifeline for poor families. Overcrowding leads to a loss of the safety and care to which all patients are entitled. Only the government can solve these problems through fair funding and resource allocation.
The emotional turmoil of parents of children in the NICU
Imagine the chaos of new parents desperately running for their newborn baby in the burning NICU. Staff battled the fire, people trying to save every baby they could amid the thick black smoke, huge flames and charred hospital equipment in the ward.
Source: Inextlive
Parents and families panicked amid the chaos as they searched for their babies. One of the nurses suffered burns to her legs while putting out the fire.
Fortunately, the markers made it easier to identify the deceased children, but three babies remained unidentified, leaving some parents uncertain about their child’s fate.
Rani Sen, an aunt of one of the babies, shared her confusion when they were asked to have their children. “If the labels were burned or misplaced, how can they tell which child is mine?” “I found a baby that wasn’t mine and took it in under my name,” he said. she told news agency ANI.
“The nurses were pushing people out, but those who managed to get in grabbed every child they could,” a sad grandmother told ANI.
“My child died in the fire,” Santoshi, a grieving mother, told reporters. “When the fire broke out, I couldn’t go in to save my baby. How could I? If no one managed to get in, how could anyone give me my baby?’ she said.
“I could not reach the area where my daughters were taken because the fire was so strong. “Other parents tried too, but we all failed,” she shared Yakoob Mansouria young father of two children.
Since most families who come to the medical school for treatment cannot afford private healthcare, the financial burden of this incident adds to the emotional toll of this traumatizing fire.
“Expired fire extinguishers” and “defective alarm systems”
have eyewitnesses confirmed that the fire extinguishers on site were “ineffective” in putting out the fire. Some reports claim that the fire extinguishers are labeled as having already expired in 2022, making them useless in this emergency. They said if the fire extinguishers had been working, more babies’ lives might have been saved.
Source: Aaj Tak
In addition, the fire alarm was not triggered, delaying rescue efforts. Despite recent fire drills, there was no emergency preparedness.
However, UP Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak denied the claims of expired and faulty equipment. “All the firefighting equipment in the medical college was perfectly fine.” “A fire safety audit was conducted here in February and a dry drill was also conducted in June,” said Pathak stated.
This contradictory narrative raises serious questions about accountability and transparency in the hospital’s safety protocols.
Structural and oversight problems in the administration were exposed by the UP intensive care unit fire
While an expansion was being built at the college to accommodate the overburdened neonatal intensive care unit, it was still incomplete, leaving the hospital ill-equipped to care for so many babies.
“The current NICU has been functional for over 12 years and the number of our patients has increased significantly.” We managed funds from various sources and started building the expansion unit. “Some of the money came from the government, from the local administration, and we also arranged some things through CSR,” commented Dr. NS Sengar, Rector of the Faculty of Medicine.
To deal with overcrowding, the hospital began setting up a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), which has not yet been officially inaugurated. Why was the ad hoc nature of resource management practiced so openly and not taken into account?
Why was the ad hoc nature of resource management practiced so openly and not taken into account?
The state government is directly responsible for appointing a competent administration to ensure oversight of public hospitals. It should have ensured that public hospitals were adequately expanded, modernized and made accessible to meet increasing demands.
NHRC seeks accountability
To highlight the seriousness of this alarming situation, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sent a notice to the UP government and the state police chief.
Particularly when the fire broke out in a government facility, the NHRC emphasized in its statement that the fire tragedy was “indeed disturbing and suggests negligence,” which resulted in a “serious violation” of the victims’ human rights.
Source: The Hindu
The NHRC called for complete transparency on all information related to the case, from the FIR status to the medical assistance and financial assistance offered to the victims to the measures taken to avoid such incidents in the future.
Chaired by Kinjal Singh, Director General of Medical Education, the communication was taken seriously. A A four-member investigative committee was formed For a detailed investigation, the company has been asked to submit a report within seven days.
The government intervenes, too little, too late?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his heartfelt condolences. promises financial help to the grieving families of PMNRF: ₹5 lakh for the families of the deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured.
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has also announced compensation for the victims from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund: ₹5 lakh for the families of the deceased newborns and ₹50,000 for the families of the injured babies.
President Murmu She also shared her grief and expressed her condolences to the parents and families who suffered losses in this incident.
Is this compensation enough to address the negative trauma the families have endured? Is it enough to hide the systemic failings of the healthcare system exposed by the tragic fire? The government certainly owes its citizens more than just condolences and compensation.
Public health system failure
Unfortunately, despite safety drills and audits, failure to follow emergency protocols is common and is not taken seriously. A system of regular inspections must be created, where non-compliance entails a penalty with greater involvement of the company National Medical Commission.
Overcrowding, lack and mismanagement of resources, lax safety standards and lack of accountability are some of the major problems facing the system. Only when authorities understand the scale of these problems will real change come into play.
Source: Newsx
The NICU fire in Jhansi is not an isolated incident. A similar fire broke out in Delhi Vivek Vihar ICU In the last 6 months, 7 newborns died. Does this represent a healthcare system in which survival is prioritized over safety, “jugaad” prioritized over planning and resource allocation? A system that focuses on reaction rather than prevention?
The tragedy requires urgent joint reforms with strong systemic accountability. The lives of the most vulnerable citizens, the newborns, deserve better. While the immediate problems lie in the mismanagement of the state government, the role of the central government in policy making and financing cannot be ignored here. Both must work together to protect India and its public health.
