Day after fire, endoscopic services restored at AIIMS

New Delhi: Emergency and endoscopic services have been almost restored at AIIMS, hospital authorities said on Tuesday, a day after a fire broke out on the second floor of the old OPD building of the institute here.

All patients were safely evacuated and no casualties were reported in the fire, the cause of which is still to be ascertained. Dr Rima Dada, professor in-charge media cell at AIIMS-Delhi, said that the paediatric and adult emergency services in the old OPD block have been restored. Endoscopy facility has been restored in the AB 2 ward on the second floor and at the 8th floor OT complex. Orthopaedic OT has been shifted temporarily to Casualty OT, Dr Dada said.

The fire had forced the suspension of endoscopy, emergency and diagnostics services in the old OPD building on Monday. On Monday, a senior doctor had said, “When the fire broke out, two patients were undergoing a procedure in the endoscopy room. These two patients along with around 80 others in the waiting area were evacuated.”

Another doctor had said 31 other patients, including six in the ICU, were moved from the AB-2 ward to other wards. Doctors, nursing staff and guards broke some of the glass windows on the second floor to allow smoke to escape. Around 70 patients from the paediatric and adult emergency wards on the ground floor were also evacuated as smoke filled the area. Some of the patients were shifted to the nearby Safdarjung Hospital.

According to sources, the second-floor orthopaedic operation theatre was functional at the time of the fire and patients had to be evacuated from there as well. An audit is being conducted to assess the damage, another official said. The AIIMS had ordered a third-party fire safety audit of its premises on August 3. The audit by the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) is currently underway.