Admission of patients to the emergency department of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Trauma Centre here is likely to be suspended for over a month after Sunday’s blaze rendered the operation theatre complex non-functional, hospital sources said on Monday.
Several surgeries scheduled for Monday were postponed due to the non-functional OTs, the hospital said.
On an average, 25-30 emergency surgeries are performed at the five major operation theatres of the facility, named Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, on a daily basis.
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“New admissions cannot happen because of the non-functional OT complex. Patients who suffer trauma injuries or accidents come here and are usually emergency cases, mostly requiring surgery. Four to five emergency surgeries scheduled for Monday, that could not wait, are being performed at the main AIIMS facility. Rest of the surgeries, based on priority, would be performed over the next few days,” a source from the hospital added.
However, the outpatient department of the facility is functional and the patients coming for follow-ups are being treated, they said.
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Unaware of the development, several patients who arrived at the hospital for treatment were sent back or referred to the main AIIMS hospital, besides Safdarjung and RML hospitals.
Dharma Khatri, 47, was one of them. He said his son fell down at home and suffered back injury. “We brought him to the AIIMS trauma centre, it being the best. But after reaching, we learnt they are not taking new patients. We faced a lot of difficulties in bringing him. He is in tremendous pain. We are now thinking of taking him to Safdarjung Hospital,” said Mr. Khatri, who had come from outside the Capital.
Though the extent of the damage to the OT complex has not yet been ascertained, the engineering team which inspected it on Monday has estimated the repair would take at least two months as two out of the five major operation theatres were charred, a source said. He said all OT linen and cotton got burnt and some instruments have also been damaged.
Setting up OT
Meanwhile, the hospital administration is trying to set up an OT on the first floor of the Wing A, which was dismantled few months ago due to renovation work on the floor, to perform admitted surgery cases.
“The first floor was to be renovated to make five more operation theatres and one OT which was functional was dismantled couple of months ago. That might be started for the time being to cater to the surgical needs of the admitted patients,” a senior doctor said.
Patients back to wards
The doctor said the first, fourth and fifth floor patients who were shifted to disaster and casualty areas on Sunday night have been shifted back to their wards and everyone is safe. Some of the recuperating patients were discharged in the night itself.
A woman guard and an employee of the fire unit of the trauma centre, who suffered Carbon Monoxide poisoning during the blaze, are being treated at the main AIIMS and their conditions remain stable, a source said.
The emergency department of the hospital witnesses a footfall of an average 250-300 patients per day.