3 ICU patients die at Jalandhar Civil Hospital amid oxygen supply allegations
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Jalandhar: In a tragic incident, three critically ill patients died at the Trauma Ward of the Civil Hospital in Jalandhar on Sunday evening following a sudden drop in oxygen supply, reportedly due to a technical fault in the hospital’s oxygen plant.
The deceased include a snakebite victim, a youth who had consumed a drug overdose, and a patient suffering from tuberculosis. All three were on ventilator support when the oxygen supply was briefly interrupted.
The family members of the deceased patients alleged that the sudden disruption in oxygen led to their untimely deaths. Hospital authorities, however, denied any negligence, though they acknowledged a brief dip in oxygen pressure due to a technical issue.
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SMO Anand also refuted the families’ allegations. Speaking to the Hindu, the SMO said, "The reasons have been mentioned by the doctors in the patients' files."
Confirming the three deaths, Medical Superintendent Dr Raj Kumar Baddhan said, "Due to a technical fault in the oxygen plant in the evening, the supply was snapped. An oil leak that caused the fault was fixed, but the patients succumbed," reports the PTC News.
In the wake of the tragedy, Punjab Health Minister Dr. Balbir Singh visited the hospital and assured that a detailed inquiry would be conducted to determine the exact cause of the deaths.
Speaking to PTC News, Balbir Singh said, "These patients were in the ICU and in a critical situation... The oxygen supply was briefly cut off, but it was switched back on immediately... Oxygen supply is complete. There was just a brief pressure drop... Maybe for 1-2 minutes... This incident happened around 8 pm... The deaths did not happen at once; they happened one after the other, within 10-15 minutes of each other... One had consolidation in the lungs, the other was a patient of multiple organ failure, and the third was a drug addict..."
The Minister added that a nine-member committee has been formed to investigate the matter thoroughly, and a team of doctors from Chandigarh will be visiting the hospital. A detailed report is expected within 48 hours.
Dr. Vinay Kumar, Civil Surgeon and Chief Medical Officer (CMO), emphasized that while there was a brief technical fault, backup oxygen cylinders were activated immediately, and the issue was resolved within minutes.
He mentioned, “All this happened within five to ten minutes... The three patients who died were in a serious condition, and their deaths occurred due to different reasons after this matter..." he said.
