Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A newborn baby died and two others sustained burn injuries after a fire broke out in a warmer machine in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the District Hospital, Chhindwara. The incident occurred on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
Three newborn babies kept in the warmer suffered burns due to the fire, which was triggered by a spark.
Newborns are placed in warmer machines for intensive care and to maintain normal body temperature after birth.
During the night, a sudden spark occurred in the filament of the warmer's heating unit, igniting the fire.
All three newborns in the warmer sustained severe burns as a result. Of the 33 babies in the NICU, 30 were safely evacuated by hospital staff and security personnel using fire extinguishers.
CMHO Dr Archna Kaithawas informed Free Press, “The baby which died had a congenital heart problem.
Three newborn babies were kept on the warmer plate. After a spark in the filament, a fire broke out. One died and the other two sustained burn injuries.
The injured have been referred to Medical College, Jabalpur, and their condition is stable.”
Civil Surgeon Dr Kanchan Dubey said, “There are two units of NICU—one for babies who are referred and the other for those who are delivered here in the hospital.
In the unit which reported the fire incident, there were 33 kids and in the other, there were 30 kids. In the fire, three babies were affected and one died while two others are undergoing treatment at Medical College, Jabalpur.”
