Six staff members of the Government Geetanand Children’s Hospital in Alwar, including two doctors, were suspended on Wednesday after an infant died in a fire that broke out in the hospital’s neonatal care unit due to a short circuit. An inquiry has found the medicos and others guilty of negligence.
A 22-day-old baby, who had sustained severe burn injuries in the fire on Tuesday, was referred to Jaipur’s Sir Padampat Mother & Child Hospital for treatment. She could barely survive a day and died of cardio-respiratory failure on Wednesday.
Besides the doctors — unit in-charge Mahesh Sharma and medical officer on duty Kirpal Singh — three nursing staffers and one ward boy were suspended on the basis of a preliminary inquiry report. The services of an electrician, who was on contractual appointment, were terminated.
Alwar Collector Inderjeet Singh said the victim’s next of kin would be given financial assistance as per the State government’s guidelines. The infant, born on December 10, was admitted to the hospital on December 24 following difficulty in respiration and was recovering in the newborn care unit.
‘CCTVs not working’
The inquiry conducted by the Medical & Health Department's Joint Director found that the CCTV cameras in the unit were dysfunctional for more than a year and the short-circuit in power supply could have been prevented if a miniature circuit breaker (MCB) was installed at the proper place.
There were 15 infants admitted to the neonatal care unit when the fire broke out in an oxygen pipeline connected to a radiant warmer early on Tuesday morning. The girl, who was in an incubator for treatment of pneumonia, suffered burn injuries on her face, chest and shoulder during the fire. As the fire broke out, other newborn children were shifted elsewhere in the hospital.
Alwar Chief Medical & Health Officer O.P. Meena said the fire in the hood of oxygen pipe connected to the incubator was caused by the sparking which occurred in the panel of radiant warmer due to high voltage.
