A fire broke out in the old OPD wing of Delhi’s All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Hospital on August 7 prompting the authorities to evacuated more than 100 patients.
No casualty or injury was reported in the accident, officials said. The fire started around 11.30 a.m. and was brought under control within one-and-a-half hour by a total of 16 fire tenders of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) and fire fighting teams of AIIMS, they added.
In an incident report, AIIMS Medical Superintendent Dr. Sanjeev Lalwani said that the incident took place at the Endoscopy unit under the Gasto-enterology department on the second floor of the Old Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur (RAK) OPD building.
He said that 31 patients were evacuated and shifted to ICU and other wards, and 70 patients were shifted out of the Emergency ward to other facilities.
“Electrical and Civil Enquiry of Main Hospital were also informed for coordination related to electrical supply as well as HVAC supply of other connected areas,” he said, adding, “Necessary instructions on plan of evacuation, admission procedures including emergency services were also given.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police (south district) Chandan Chowdhary said that the fire started in a store room on the second floor which had been shut for a long time. She said that several police personnel, three Emergency Utility Vehicles (ERVs) and a team of Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) also worked to bring the situation under control.
DFS chief Atul Garg said that the exact cause of fire was yet to be ascertained.
Dr. Rima Dada, AIIMS spokesperson, said that Director M. Srinivas also visited the spot and that security and fire fighting teams are investigating the incident to find out the cause.
Various services, including the ICU, Emergency and Endoscopy in the building, were affected due to the fire. Dr. Dada said that while ICU and Emergency services were restored by the evening, it is likely to take one or two days to restart the Endoscopy services.
“Patients who were moved out will be shifted back to the respective wings and wards soon. Meanwhile, Endoscopy services will be temporarily moved to the Radiology unit and the OT until the Endoscopy unit is renovated,” she told The Hindu.
She also added, “Before the fire tenders arrived, our fire team had almost brought the fire under control as we have a large underground water tank and fire hydrant system in place.”
Dr. Dada also said that a fire safety audit had recently been started at AIIMS. “Director Dr. Srinivas held a meeting with senior officials after today’s incident. He informed them that an audit has already been started on August 3,” she added.
Various fire incidents have been reported at AIIMS in past few years, including a fire at its Convergence Block in June 2021 gutting a COVID laboratory. Another incident was reported in March 2019 at the AIIMS Trauma Centre. No casualties were reported in these incidents.
