Bihar doctors perform surgeries on 2 pregnant women under mobile flashlights

Jamui: Doctors at Jamui Sadar Hospital reportedly continued surgeries on two pregnant women using torches and mobile phone flashlights after the power supply to the operation theatre failed during the procedures on Friday. 

The power outage reportedly lasted for around 45 minutes, while the hospital generator did not provide immediate backup, leaving the surgical team to arrange alternative lighting while the operations were underway. 

According to reports, the two women had been shifted from the maternity ward to the operation theatre for surgery. After the electricity supply was disrupted, doctors and other staff used handheld torches and mobile phone lights to illuminate the operating area and continue the procedures.

Hospital sources said the medical team informed the civil surgeon and hospital superintendent about the power failure. 

A video purportedly recorded inside the operation theatre shows one of the procedures being conducted with the help of a mobile phone flashlight. A nurse can be seen holding the phone and directing its light towards the surgical site as the doctors continued their work.

The person recording the footage can reportedly be heard saying that the operation theatre had remained without electricity for a considerable period and that senior officials had been informed about the problem. The video has since raised questions about the hospital’s emergency power arrangements, Odisha Bytes reported. 

The incident has drawn attention to the hospital’s emergency power arrangements, particularly the failure of the backup system to restore electricity promptly during ongoing surgeries. 

Doctors also reportedly discussed the episode in an internal hospital group, where some alleged that similar power disruptions had occurred earlier and claimed that surgeries had previously been carried out using mobile phone lights.

The hospital manager, however, denied this allegation and said no surgery had previously been performed at the facility using mobile phone flashlights.

Hospital authorities have ordered an inquiry into the incident. The deputy superintendent said the administration had been informed about the power failure and that a high-level inquiry would examine the reason for the disruption and the delay in activating backup power.