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Power outage: Rajindra hospital docs perform C-section using mobile flashlight
Doctors and support medical staff of Government Rajindra Hospital — a tertiary healthcare medical facility — had to perform Caesarean section or C-section under the flashlight of mobile phones on Saturday night due to power outage
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Patiala : Doctors and support medical staff of Government Rajindra Hospital — a tertiary healthcare medical facility — had to perform Caesarean section or C-section under the flashlight of mobile phones on Saturday night due to power outage.
The woman and the newborn are doing well, doctors at the hospital said.
The power supply of the hospital was disrupted on Saturday around 8pm when the C-section of the woman was underway. Following the outage, power generators were pressed into use but the one supplying electricity to mother and child wing of the hospital did not function, people familiar with the development said.
“It is sad state of affairs. We can’t delay the surgery in emergency cases,” a senior doctor of the gynaecology department said when asked about using flashlight while performing the C-section.
Medical superintendent Dr Girish Sahni said, “All the emergency power generators were put to use after the outage. Only one generator, which supplies power to the mother and child wing could not be used as we had to refill the fuel – which took some time.”
Patiala deputy commissioner Showkat Parray said due to power outage, relatives of patients started protesting and did not allow the hospital staff to refill the fuel in the power generator. “Police had to be called to refill the generator,” he said.
The medical superintendent said they are facing power issues at the hospital and have informed officials of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited about it.
“We have our own 66KV power grid at the hospital for 24x7 power supply but there was some issue in the grid and power supply to the hospital was interrupted for three hours,” said Sahini.
Punjab chief secretary Anurag Verma said: “The government has taken cognisance of power outage. The health minister, DC and CMD, PSPCL, will visit the hospital and look into the reasons for power failure and will decide on the remedial steps.”
Health minister Dr Balbir Singh, who held a meeting with officials of the PSPCL at Government Rajindra Hospital on Sunday, said: “There was a fault in the power line of 66KV power grid of Rajindra hospital. Since the power line is underground, it took 2-3 hours to fix it. To ensure that similar situation doesn’t arise again, we will give an alternative supply line of 11KV for emergency services.”
