PGI sees 5th fire in 5 months, this time at cardiac centre OT

Fire broke out at an operation theatre (OT) of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER)’s Advanced Cardiac Centre on Saturday afternoon, making it the fifth major blaze at the institute in the last five months.

Though no casualty was reported, the incident exposed the hospital administration’s failure to take corrective measures in the aftermath of the past incidents, rendering the hospital into a fire trap.

Speaking about Saturday’s incident, medical superintendent Dr Vipin Koushal said the fire broke out at the Advanced Cardiac Centre’s OT-2 at 1.30pm when a valve surgery was underway. The patient, Chander Kanta, 70, was immediately shifted to an intensive care unit (ICU) where the surgery resumed.

Dr Koushal said that prima facie it appears the fire was caused by sparking in a socket in the OT.

A PGIMER spokesperson said that the fire was brought under control within five minutes and a fire tender deployed on campus had been pressed into service.

The official statement read: “The fire control room at the cardiac centre received a fire signal from OT number 2 on the fourth floor. Fire guards/fire officers/chief security officer promptly responded to the distress call and took immediate action to control the fire, extinguishing it within five minutes.”

“Due to ongoing surgical procedures, the OT was occupied at the time of the incident. The patient was immediately shifted to the adjacent ICU for uninterrupted care,” the statement further read.

Dr Koushal further said, “The overall functioning of the Advanced Cardiac Centre hasn’t been severely impacted. However, out of the four OTs in the ward, two were temporarily closed due to the incident. Efforts are underway to restore the functionality of the affected OT.”