E-Paper
No dereliction of duty found: Director on fire incidents at PGIMER
Fact-finding committee lays blame on UPS systems, which have outlived their lives of three years and need to be replaced
The fact-finding committee of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has held no one responsible for the major fire that broke out at the institute’s Nehru Hospital on the intervening night between October 9 and 10 that necessitated the late-night evacuation of 424 patients.
The committee laid the blame on the UPS (uninterruptible power supply) systems, which had “outlived their lives of three years and needed to be replaced”.
“Though the UPS batteries were replaced some days back, the system was due for replacement,” said PGIMER director Dr Vivek Lal while addressing a press conference, adding that three batteries from PGIMER had been sent to Bangalore for inspection and the battery quality report was awaited.
‘Short-circuit in UPS batteries led to fire’
Detailing the major causes of fire, as established by the fact-finding committee, Dr Lal said, “The main cause of the fire incidents has been found to be short-circuit in UPS batteries caused by major electric fluctuation and not any dereliction of duty. The UPS battery back-up was inspected on September 29, just 10 days before the fire at Nehru Hospital. The one at the Advanced Eye Centre, where another fire broke out on October 16, was replaced only six months back.”
“More than anything, our focus has been on the restoration process. It is very gratifying to share that all services were made fully functional within 48 hours with absolutely no slackening in emergency or trauma services,” he said.
Audit of fire hotspots underway
The director further added that two major decisions were taken on a war footing, including that of handing over the entire upkeep of the UPS battery systems back-up to the biomedical division (earlier it was being done by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) and UPS batteries being identified as the hotspot, are being shifted from the premises to safer places or at the edge of the buildings so that the smoke escapes quickly in case of fire.
“We have already initiated the audit of potential hotspots and are committed to strengthening the number of fire extinguishers, sprinklers and other latest fire-fighting equipments within a clear timeline of three months to avert such mishaps,” Dr Lal added.
Medical superintendent Vipin Koushal said the patients in affected areas of Nehru Hospital were evacuated within no time and shifted to safer places with all ICU facilities to ensure that patient care was not affected.
“The restoration process is being completed at full speed and all patients have already been shifted back to their respective departments. The dietary service was started from Advanced Paediatrics Centre from the next day and even on the day of the fire, lunch was prepared at the employee welfare canteen. So no service was hampered despite a very challenging situation.”
Key recommendations by panel to avoid fire incidents
Fire exit routes at ground floor in New OPD should be replaced with glass/wooden doors to make them user friendly
Approach roads/designated fire areas for fire tenders should be kept open and vacant
Fire exit doors in different blocks of the hospital should be preferably made in a way that open outwards instead of inwards
There is an urgent need to have more space or a separate warehouse for the central store and pharmacy for storage of consumable medicine/logistics
Since the Nehru Hospital building is 65 years old, existing power cables, manifold pipelines and air conditioning fitting/installations needs to be revamped
1,700 more fire extinguishers, other fire safety equipment to be fixed across hospital
Corridors/stairs to be kept clear for free movement and no fire hazard items should be kept there
Signages should be made more user friendly.
