A major fire incident occurred in the computer room of C-block of Nehru Hospital, PGIMER, Chandigarh around 11:45 PM on 09-10-2023 midnight. The primary reason for the fire is guessed to be a short circuit in the computer room. The C-block has a dialysis unit, Adult kidney Unit, Renal Transplant unit, Female Medical Ward, Male Medical Ward, Gynae, Maternity, Nursery and neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Bone Marrow Transplant, and operation theatres which function 24×7 throughout the year. As soon as the incident occurred, security officers, fire officers, and staff members including faculty, residents, staff nurses, and subordinate staff of PGI got into action and all the patients from this area were rescued and shifted to the safer areas. Prof Vivek Lal Director, of PGI along with senior faculty members Medical Superintendent, and Administrative Officers reached the spot immediately and the Fire wing and engineering wing of PGIMER swung into action to provide all the needed care and support required for the patient care. The UT administration and UT fire department also reached the spot and contributed to the quick & safe evacuation of the patients and their attendants. The smoke and heat spread to the corridors due to which the patients from adjoining areas Advanced Urology Centre, and Male Surgical Ward were also shifted to safer places to avoid any sort of suffocation to the patients.
The patients admitted in adjoining wards and corridors were also shifted to other concerned wards or ICUs to avoid any untoward incident, as smoke spread out in the nearby wards. The evacuation was done within 60 min of the incident and there was no loss of life of patients or staff. Around 2:00 AM all the services related to patient care were grossly restored.
The Director of PGI immediately instructed the engineering wing for the restoration of the affected area. The tarnished area will require major repair work and functioning of the OTs and other facilities are expected to be made functional as soon as possible. At present, alternative arrangements have been made in another area of PGI, Advanced Trauma Centre, and Nehru Hospital Extension & OTs. A 14-member committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Dean (Academic) Prof Naresh Panda to ascertain the exact cause of the fire and work out an action plan to avoid any such incidences in the future.
