Jhansi fire: Nurse's heroic efforts helped save over dozen babies
Lucknow/Jhansi (UP), Nov 17: Nurse Megha James was on duty when the fire broke out at the Jhansi hospital and she threw herself headlong into the rescue efforts, playing a hero's role by saving several babies.
Even when her salwar got burned, she refused to give up and was able to evacuate 14-15 babies with others' help.
"I had gone to take a syringe to give an injection to a child. When I came back, I saw that the (oxygen) concentrator had caught fire. I called the ward boy, who came with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. But by then, the fire had spread," James said.
Ten babies perished in a fire that broke out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi Friday night.
Faced with an enormous blaze, James's mind worked with a frenetic speed, to the extent she cared little about burning herself.
"My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working," she told PTI Videos.
James just wore another salwar and went back to the rescue operation.
"There was a lot of smoke, and once the lights went out, we could not see anything. The entire staff brought out at least 14-15 children. There were 11 beds in the ward with 23-24 babies," she said.
Had the lights not gone out they could have saved more children, James said. "It all happened very suddenly. None of us had expected it."
Assistant Nursing Superintendent Nalini Sood praised James's valour and recounted bits from how the rescue operation was carried out.
"The hospital staff broke the glasses of the NICU ward to evacuate the babies. It was then Nurse Megha's salwar caught fire. Instead of caring for her safety, she stayed there to rescue the babies and handed them over to people outside," she said.
Sood said James is currently undergoing treatment at the same medical college. She said she did not know the extent of her burns.
"The rescued babies were shifted to a ward very close to the NICU ward… When I recall the scene, I feel like crying," she said.
Dr Anshul Jain, the head of the anaesthesiology department at the medical college, explained the standard rescue operation and claimed the hospital followed the protocol to the T.
"In the triage process during an ICU evacuation, the policy is to evacuate less-affected patients first. The rationale behind this approach is that patients requiring minimal support can be relocated quickly, enabling a larger number of evacuations to be completed in a shorter time.
"In contrast, patients on ventilators or requiring high oxygen support demand more time and resources for evacuation," he said.
"This principle was successfully implemented in Jhansi, playing a significant role in saving many lives," Jain said.
A newborn rescued from the fire died due to illness on Sunday, Jhansi District Magistrate Avinash Kumar said.
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FIR against 15 seniors after death of MBBS student due to ragging in Gujarat
Patan (Gujarat) (PTI): Police have registered an FIR against 15 students of a medical college in Gujarat's Patan district following the death of an 18-year-old student who was allegedly ragged by them, officials said on Monday.
The accused, all second-year MBBS students, allegedly made some juniors, including the victim, stand in a hostel room for more than three hours on Saturday night and subjected them to "mental and physical torture," as per the First Information Report (FIR).
They have booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other offences, the FIR said.
The accused students have been suspended from their hostel and academic activities until further orders, said officials from the GMERS Medical College and Hospital at Dharpur in Patan.
The victim, Anil Methaniya, a first-year MBBS student, fell unconscious and died allegedly after being made to stand for three hours during ragging by his seniors at a hostel of the college on Saturday night, the college dean, Dr Hardik Shah, said on Sunday.
The college's anti-ragging committee chaired by Dr Shah took the statements of 26 students -- 11 of the first-year and 15 second-year students.
The committee found that 11 first-year students were subjected to ragging by a group of 15 second-year students, a college official said on Monday.
As per the FIR lodged at Balisana police station shortly after midnight on Monday, the 15 accused called 11 first-year students, including Methaniya and his classmates, to a hostel room on Saturday night for "introduction".
They made the juniors stand for nearly three-and-a half hours while forcing them to sing and dance, utter abusive words and not leave the room.
Methaniya's health deteriorated as the students were subjected to mental and physical torture. The victim fainted and fell down at around midnight. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, the FIR stated.
Based on a complaint by the college's additional dean Dr Anil Bhathija, the FIR was lodged against 15 students under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, wrongful confinement, unlawful assembly, and using obscene words.
