GUWAHATI: A probable disaster was averted and the lives of over 50 infants saved by prompt action of the authorities at the Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh on Sunday night.
The hospital authorities had detected smoke from the electrical wire above the ceiling of the intensive care unit of the mother and child ward of the hospital and immediately sprayed about 15 fire extinguishers to the affected area.
AMCH superintendent Indra Chutia, who was at the site till the wee hours, informed The Shillong Times over phone on Monday that the smoke was probably caused by a short circuit around 10.15 pm and the situation was restored by the ward boys and security personnel in just 10 minutes.
Fire tenders had arrived thereafter and the wire in the affected as well as other areas were checked thoroughly to ensure safety.
“There were 54 newborn babies in the ICU at the time of the incident. The critically-ill babies were immediately shifted to the inborn ICU, which is just a corridor away as a precautionary measure,” Chutia said.
“One of infants admitted to the out-born ICU in a very critical condition last Thursday was under resuscitation since 9pm on Sunday but the baby expired two and half hours later. However, the infant’s passing away had nothing to do with the incident,” he said.
“Ventilators at the infant ICU have adequate power back-up to keep functioning for about an hour in the event of power shutdown/supply disruption. Here, electricity had to be disconnected till the situation was restored by 11 pm,” the AMCH superintendent said.
