Another blaze in Services Hospital

A sudden fire erupted in the ICU due to a suspected electric short circuit, damaging expensive medical equipment.

LAHORE: A sudden fire erupted in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Services Hospital on Tuesday, damaging expensive medical equipment.

The fire started at 9:20am due to a suspected electric short circuit. Smoke spread in the ward within a few minutes, causing panic among patients.

According to a staff member, 16 patients were present in the ward at that time. They were shifted to the emergency ward. More than 100 patients were already present in the emergency ward.

Rescue 1122 fire fighters and the City Fire Brigade arrived in about half-an-hour and put out the fire within 20 minutes. The hospital staff confirmed that the medical equipment installed in the ICU was completely burned.

Dr Mohammad Javaid, medical superintendent of Services Hospital, said that there were no casualties. “A three member committee has been formed to investigate the cause of this incident,” he said.

After the patients from the ICU were shifted to the emergency ward, 16 emergency patients were moved to Gangaram Hospital, the hospital staff confirmed.

Uzma, staff officer at the hospital, told The Express Tribune that all the patients were safe. The relatives of these patients were sent outside to avoid further panic and hassle in the shifting process, she added.

Usama Saif, a relative of a patient in the ICU, said that fire extinguishers were available in the hospital, but were not used by the staff to put out the fire before the emergency services arrived.On October 5 this year, the Orthopaedic Operation Theatre of Services Hospital caught fire, also due to a suspected electric short circuit, injuring two patients.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2010.