Thiruvananthapuram: Triggering a major scare, there was a power shut down for over three hours in the casualty wing of Sree Avittom Thirunal (SAT) Hospital, a tertiary care centre where one of the highest number of childbirths take place in the country. It was the first time in history of the SAT Hospital that power supply had been interrupted for such a prolonged time.

However, power was restored just when the panic of bystanders, mostly close relatives of pregnant women in need of emergency care and mothers who had delivered, looked beyond the control of the police. After the restoration, top SAT officials assured that children and mothers under treatment in the hospital were safe.

During the three-hour dark phase, when terror got the better of relatives crowded around the hospital, SAT superintendent Nirmala C sought to reassure them by saying that the blackout had not affected the newborn and pediatric intensive care units.

The supply was interrupted only in the casualty wings and in certain wards, she said. The superintendent said that patients admitted to the casualty wing, and requiring emergency care, were promptly shifted to the newborn and paediatric ICUs.

There were serious concerns about newborns who were on oxygen and other life support equipment that ran on power. Panic-stricken women found along the corridors of the hospital were seen asking reporters to rush to the children's wards and check on the children. "Four to five newborns requiring continuous oxygen supply are stuffed into a single bed. There are mothers and children in ICUs. We don't know what is happening to them," a woman was heard saying.

It is still not clear how the blackout happened. One version is that it happened when the KSEB was conducting routine maintenance work. But it was for such an eventuality that generators have been installed as back up.

As it turned out, even these generators did not function on the day. Were the generators not adequately serviced? Should the PWD maintenance wing in the Medical College take the blame for the failure as power minister K Krishnankutty said? There are also unconfirmed reports that shorter blackouts had affected the functioning of the hospital during the previous two days. Satisfactory answers can be provided only by a comprehensive probe.

It is said that power was finally restored using rented generators. The SAT has a total staff strength of 35. The annual outpatient turn is 75,000 with 28000 admissions, 10,000 deliveries, 3,000 caesarians, 2,000 major gynecological surgeries.

Minister announces probe
A technical committee will investigate the power outage in the casualty wing of SAT Hospital. In a press release, Health Minister Veena George said a comprehensive probe would be initiated. The Minister visited the hospital Sunday night and assessed the situation. She said strict action would be taken if any lapses were found that led to the power outage.