Newborn dies as NICH incubator catches fire

Witnesses claim hospital doors were closed, fire extinguishers unavailable in ICU

KARACHI: A two-day-old infant burnt to death when an incubator caught fire in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) on Thursday.

A four-member committee has been formed to probe the incident, which occurred in one of the largest paediatric hospitals in the province.

The blaze erupted in the incubator at around 7 am in the morning. Parents of other children present in the ward started crying and trying to rescue their infants placed in other incubators in the room.

“There was no staff member present when the fire broke out,” said Abida, the deceased baby’s grandmother, who witnessed the incident. “I cried out but no one came to rescue our baby.”

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Speaking to The Express Tribune, Abida said that she tried to rescue her granddaughter but was unable to do anything. “Others rescued their babies as they knew how to unlock the incubators,” she said, adding that there was no fire extinguisher in the ward.

“Nobody was allowed to enter the hospital for an hour and a half,” alleged Muhammad Younus, the baby’s maternal uncle. “They could have saved our child if they had responded promptly.” He demanded stern action against those involved in the negligence.

The baby’s mother, Iqra, wife of Muhammad Naeem, was brought to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for treatment. After giving birth, the newborn girl was shifted to NICH.

Eyewitnesses said that the hospital’s doors were shut when the incident took place, with no one allowed to enter. They claimed that no fire tenders were called and no fire extinguishers were available in the facility.

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Bitterly criticising the hospital management’s attitude and poor arrangements for such emergencies, the parents of other babies in the ward demanded that the government carry out a full inquiry into the incident.

“Our staff immediately controlled the fire,” claimed NICH director Dr Jamal Raza. He confirmed that a newborn child had died in the incident, adding that an inquiry had been initiated. He said that a possible reason for the fire could be a technical fault in the incubator.

Dr Raza told The Express Tribune that all staff members were available and promptly responded to the emergency. “The ward was packed with babies and their attendants,” he said, adding that around 20 other babies were also present in the ICU. “All the other babies were rescued safely.”

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Raising concerns

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Khurram Sher Zaman, who reached the hospital soon after the incident, questioned the quality of the incubators. “Was the incubator of poor quality or being improperly maintained?” he asked.

Speaking to the media, Zaman said that the Pakistan Peoples Party had been in power in Sindh for the last 12 years, but the people of the province still lacked even basic facilities.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Health Department has formed a four-member committee to investigate the incident and submit an inquiry report within three days.

Taking notice of the incident, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah ordered the NICH director to share the complete details of the tragedy and told him to make all possible arrangements to avoid such incidents in the future. The chief minister also expressed sympathy with the grieving family.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2020.