Fire at Shishu Hospital: No casualties, but facility suffers heavy damage

The intensive care unit (ICU) and high dependency unit (HDU) of the cardiology department at Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute were burned in a fire yesterday.

However, all the children undergoing treatment in the ICUs and HDUs were safely evacuated, and arrangements were made to continue their treatment elsewhere.

No casualties were reported in the fire.

Five fire engines managed to extinguish the blaze around 2:40pm, which had broken out in the cardiac ICU around 1:45pm, according to Lima Khanam, duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence control room.

Upon receiving the alert, five teams from Fire Service and Civil Defence rushed to the scene and managed to extinguish the fire after an hour-long effort.

As the fire erupted, the attendants of the patients panicked and evacuated the patients immediately with the help of hospital staffers.

Critical patients were later transferred to ICUs in other wards.

Maymuna Begum, mother of two-month-old Solaiman, who was undergoing treatment in the HDU, noticed smoke entering the HDU.

She promptly alerted the on-duty nurse, who helped them evacuate downstairs.

Solaiman was then transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in another building and is currently receiving treatment there.

Doctors at the NICU reported that all five patients who were transferred from the fire-affected building are in stable condition.

Yeasin, a seven-month-old son of Narzu Begum from Ashulia, was undergoing treatment in the recovery department, situated on the four-floor of the hospital.

Narzu Begum described the frightening experience of evacuating her son amidst heavy smoke but expressed relief that he is now receiving treatment in another part of the hospital.

"I was frightened, so I took my son in my arms and started going downstairs. With heavy smoke filling the room, I struggled to make my way downstairs," she recalled while talking to The Daily Star.

Due to the fire, the electricity connection of the building was suspended, forcing several patients from different floors to gather at the hospital grounds until 4:00pm due to the intense heat.

Sriti Khatun, a staff nurse on the third floor, said patients and their attendants evacuated downstairs when the fire broke out.

"They are now returning to the wards, and we are re-admitting them after checking their health condition," she said.

Electric supply is currently suspended in the entire building, which is causing suffering among patients, she added.

While visiting, this newspaper found that the attendants were using hand fans to cool their patients.

Abdul Hakim, public relations officer of the hospital, said all activities on the fourth floor have been suspended, as the fire has destroyed all of the equipment, alongside the ICU and HDU.

Electricity lines were provided on several floors from adjacent buildings to alleviate the situation, he added.

"Due to prompt action, no casualties were reported, and all patients on the affected floor were safely evacuated and are now stable," he added.

He also said they primarily suspected the fire originated from the AC.

Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen visited the scene and confirmed that all patients were evacuated safely and alternative treatment arrangements were made.

The full extent of the fire's damage could not be known immediately, he added.

Meanwhile, Md Fakhruddin, senior station officer of Mohammadpur Fire Station, said the fire safety measures at the hospital were not adequate.

'The hospital had some fire extinguishers, with which they tried to control the fire before we got there. But at a hospital like this, they need to be a lot more prepared to deal with fire incidents,' he told The Daily Star.

"They didn't have a separate water line for fire accidents, which is a must for establishments of this sort. We had to bring water from the nearby staff quarter of National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital to douse the fire," he added.