NICH incubator tragedy
It is imperative that health departments concentrate on proactive maintenance measures to prevent tragedies
In a tragic recent incident, a newborn girl died when an incubator caught fire at Karachi’s National Institute of Child Health (NICH), Sindh’s largest children’s hospital. A preliminary probe has found that the fire had been caused by a short circuit in the incubator.
Regrettably, the incident points to the Sindh Health Department’s inability to adequately oversee the province’s health facilities as this is not the first time such an incident has occurred in Karachi. Because incubators are meant for the most vulnerable among us i.e. newborns, their inadequate maintenance can have serious consequences. They thus demand extra Health Department vigilance and oversight.
It is essential to keep past incubator incidents in mind, both at home and abroad, to effectively address the problem. Firstly, many incubators are used for years and are subjected to considerable shock and vibration as they are mounted on casters and moved around for cleaning and storage. Care must be taken to ensure that this mechanical stress does not damage their temperature control mechanisms, as the resultant overheating can cause brain damage or death in infants. Secondly, it is essential that old incubators be continually checked in order to incorporate into them the necessary safety features. Missing heat shields, for example, have caused severe burns in infants in the past. Thirdly, lack of maintenance has also previously resulted in the use of incubators with high noise levels due to defective or misaligned air-circulating fans which can cause hearing loss in newborns. And fourthly, another malfunction seen before that must be guarded against is broken mercury-based temperature sensors in older incubators which expose infants to hazardous mercury vapours.
In short, it is imperative that the country’s health departments, including the Sindh Health Department, concentrate on proactive maintenance measures to prevent the recurrence of past tragedies.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2020.
Regrettably, the incident points to the Sindh Health Department’s inability to adequately oversee the province’s health facilities as this is not the first time such an incident has occurred in Karachi. Because incubators are meant for the most vulnerable among us i.e. newborns, their inadequate maintenance can have serious consequences. They thus demand extra Health Department vigilance and oversight.
It is essential to keep past incubator incidents in mind, both at home and abroad, to effectively address the problem. Firstly, many incubators are used for years and are subjected to considerable shock and vibration as they are mounted on casters and moved around for cleaning and storage. Care must be taken to ensure that this mechanical stress does not damage their temperature control mechanisms, as the resultant overheating can cause brain damage or death in infants. Secondly, it is essential that old incubators be continually checked in order to incorporate into them the necessary safety features. Missing heat shields, for example, have caused severe burns in infants in the past. Thirdly, lack of maintenance has also previously resulted in the use of incubators with high noise levels due to defective or misaligned air-circulating fans which can cause hearing loss in newborns. And fourthly, another malfunction seen before that must be guarded against is broken mercury-based temperature sensors in older incubators which expose infants to hazardous mercury vapours.
In short, it is imperative that the country’s health departments, including the Sindh Health Department, concentrate on proactive maintenance measures to prevent the recurrence of past tragedies.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2020.