Oxygen Supply Disruption Claims 3 Lives in Jalandhar Hospital – Negligence Under Scanner

Jalandhar (The Uttam Hindu): A major accident occurred on Sunday night in Jalandhar's Civil Hospital Trauma Center due to stoppage of oxygen supply. Three critical patients admitted in the ICU died, while the condition of two others deteriorated, who were saved by the doctors.

Accident or negligence! 3 patients died due to stoppage of oxygen supply in Jalandhar Civil Hospital, supply remained closed for 35 minutes : According to sources, due to a technical fault in the oxygen plant at around 8.30 pm, the supply of gas was stopped for about 35 minutes. During this time, the patients admitted in the ICU started having difficulty in breathing. As soon as the doctors and technicians became aware of the fault, repair work was started. But by the time the supply was restored, Archana (15), Avtaar Lal (32) and Raju (30) had died.

According to the information, Archana was admitted for snake bite on July 17, Avtar Lal for drug overdose on July 27 and Raju for TB treatment on July 24. As soon as the news of the incident was received, the relatives of the patients got angry and started creating a ruckus in the hospital.

The administration and the government had to intervene to control the situation. Health Minister Dr. Balbir Singh reached the hospital at around 1:15 am and held a meeting with the doctors. Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal also reached the spot.

Civil Hospital MS Dr. Raj Kumar said, "A 9-member committee has been formed to investigate the incident. It will submit its report in two days. If negligence is proved, strict action will be taken against the person responsible. It is not clear yet whether the fault was completely technical or human error was also involved in it."