6 dead, 5 critical after fire breaks out at Jaipur’s SMS Hospital trauma ICU

NEW DELHI: Six patients died and five remain critical after a fire triggered by a short circuit broke out at the trauma ICU of Jaipur’s Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital late on Sunday night.SMS Hospital Trauma Centre Incharge Anurag Dhakad told ANI that the fire started in the trauma ICU on the second floor and spread quickly, releasing toxic gases. “Our trauma centre has two ICUs on the second floor: a trauma ICU and a semi-ICU. We had 24 patients there; 11 in the trauma ICU and 13 in the semi-ICU. A short circuit occurred in the trauma ICU, and the fire spread rapidly, releasing toxic gases,” he said.Dhakad added that most of the patients in the ICU were comatose. “Our trauma centre team, our nursing officers, and ward boys, immediately rescued them on trolleys and brought as many patients as we could out of the ICU and shifted them to another location. Six of those patients were very critical; we tried very hard to revive them with CPR, but they couldn’t be saved,” he said.According to Dhakad, two of the deceased were women and four were men. Five patients are still critical. “There were 24 that we evacuated: 11 in the trauma ICU and 13 in the adjacent ICU,” he said.Authorities are investigating the cause of the short circuit and assessing damage to the facility. Rescue operations were completed shortly after the blaze was brought under control.More details awaited.