Darkness engulfs SAT

The distress experienced by the patients at the SAT Maternal and Child Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday night was unprecedented. Power outage is not rare in India and occasionally hospitals too have to bear the brunt. Hospitals are not residential areas and officials should have had the smarts to ensure effective replacement albeit knowing well about the power outage.

SAT went dark at 7 pm on Sunday and power was restored only at 10:30 pm. In these three hours, pregnant ladies, infants and relatives of patients walked through fire and were trapped in the cavernous building in the company of the dark. Some bystanders with food supplies for patients feared taking the steps to the third floor due to the blackout.

The Health Minister announced that the technical committee will conduct a comprehensive investigation into the incident. The fact that the hospital, patients and staff had to stay in the dark for three and a half hours deserves brickbats and shows the standards of officials.

Such deplorable incidents deserve immediate correction. It is not something to be chided away with the farce of an investigation. What made the blackout extend for three long hours in one of the busiest hospitals of the capital city needs an answer. Action should be taken against those who have neglected their duty. Punitive actions at the right time could serve the purpose of stymieing such incidents in future. We as a society have easily imbibed the culture of taking lapses in a lighter sense, ensuring things remain messy in this country.

Patients falling from the stretcher, the fan above the hospital bed landing on the patient’s head and people getting trapped in the hospital lift for hours are daily news for us and it evokes no surprise. It reflects our air of coolness on such issues that we expect no immediate change and are damn sure of more such news making headlines in the coming future.

The power failure in SAT on Sunday screams negligence. Before starting the work by disconnecting the direct power connection, a replacement system had to be put in place. Being the largest mother and child hospital in the state, it is a necessity that electricity continues unhindered in this hospital.

It is a big relief that the wards of the hospital, including the newborn ward and the children's ICU, did not have power outages. Had it been otherwise, the state would have witnessed yet another disaster. Amidst the chaos of the power outage in the capital city, some doctors continued their work diagnosing patients with the help of mobile torches and candlelights, and it deserves praise.

There are many investigations and reports before the health department regarding the suffering caused by negligence in hospitals. All those reports now sit in some quarters of the department, embellished by dust. Unfortunate.