Recently, a fire occurred in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Rani Laxmibai Medical College in the city of Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. It claimed the lives of ten newborn babies and left a tremendous amount of injuries in critical conditions. This immense tragedy has raised many serious questions about safety protocols in public hospitals and the exposure to system issues and maintenance in healthcare institutes and hospitals.
The fire, which began in the early hours of November 16, was caused by a short circuit. The authorities took this case further as a foul play case, but haven’t found any evidence for it, hence this incident was classified as an accident and not a criminal act. However, many people are still doubtful and not convinced by the final decision due to the known history of bad conditions in Indian hospitals and also because the case file highlighted some critical lapses, leading to the saddening loss.
Reports indicate that the NICU was the main place where there were over 20 infants undergoing treatment in a fire. Witnesses expressed in interviews how flames swept into their area fast. They trapped their babes in the cribs, even though there was only a small chance of getting them out. Parents in the hospital were scurrying to save their children, but an overload of smoke and dehydrating heat frustrated them. The CCTV footage emerged as a very important piece of evidence in the investigation. The authorities could see through the camera that sparks were reportedly coming out from an electrical panel, which fits into the theory of a short circuit. However, the main question and suspicion of people remain as to why the NICU area was not provided with proper protection against such a short circuit.
This tragedy revealed a saddening truth about the hospitals in India, the overcrowding that occurs in most hospitals and how in this case, there was huge overcrowding in the NICU. Sources revealed that the unit was operating beyond its intended capacity, with over 20 infants crammed into a space meant for fewer patients. To solve this problem, the hospital decided to open a new NICU and that is the real reason which might have alleviated this issue. Fire extinguishers were known to be present in the hospital, but their functionality wasn’t as efficient and the authorities are investigating the company of the fire extinguishers the hospital hired. One of the theories, expired equipment used, has been dismissed, and the incident has exposed the dire need for routine safety audits. Hospital staff claim they acted promptly, but the scale of the fire made their efforts futile.
Due to this incident, the Uttar Pradesh government has constituted a four-member probe team to examine the incident. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has condoled the deaths and announced compensation of ₹5 lakh to the families of the deceased. He has also called for stricter fire safety measures across all government hospitals. Despite these measures, many families are still inconsolable. This incident has also led to the suicide of innocent people, which has caused outrage among citizens and health activists, who claim that the tragedy could have been completely avoided.
The Jhansi hospital fire is not a once-in-a-lifetime incident. In the past couple of years, India has seen some tragedies, though often with preventable causes like electrical failure, overcrowding, and no safety/fire drills. These incidents remind us of the urgent need for systemic changes in the health sector in India. Hospitals, especially government hospitals, need to be safe rather than dirty. Scheduled inspections, working fire safety equipment, and sufficient staffing can prevent such disasters from occurring. Overcrowding facilities must also not be tolerated, and steps taken quickly to either expand the infrastructures in place or transfer patients to other better hospitals. The other aspect the government could consider is integrating advanced technologies in the medical designs, such as smoke detectors and automated fire suppression systems. The measures to take seem expensive, but lives are more expensive, and important and deserve to be saved.
Written by Ratisha Khare
