A first port of call for patients otherwise known as Accident and Tmergency ward of the Premier University College Hospital in Ibadan was yesterday gutted fire.
While it lasted, the inferno destroyed the central air conditioning systems and other equipment.
The blaze, which started around 4:15p.m. at Medical Store Casualty Unit of the Accident and Emergency Unit according to eyewitnesses, was said to have been caused by a gas explosion from the central air condition
The University of Ibadan (UI) the truck was the first on ground to quell the the before the Oyo State Fire Service came to join them with two the trucks and was able to stop the the around after 5p.m.
There were no casualties repotted, but the incident caused chaos in the hospital and patients were evacuated to nearby facilities.
While inspecting the damaged facilities, the Chief Medical Director of UCH, Prof Temitope Alonge, said the the started around after. 4pm. during his hospital rounds.
He said: "I was at the second floor of the theatre complex baling when I heard shout of people aying for help and I saw smoke coming out of the ward and I came around immediately to help."
Alonge confirmed that there was no casualty and nobody was injured, be it a staff or patient
"What I understood happened was that earlier in the. day the head of electrical department noticed that the solar panel switch had a fault and it triggered a spark and they attended to it, but since it was not directly coming from the main supply from Ibadan Disco they decided to put on the power supply, so the spark ignted the insulator around the central air conditioning system and that was the beginning of the problem. "Since our central air conditioner has stop working for a while, I believe it was the spark from the solar panel that ignited the insulator around the central air condition" he said
The CMD said he was very emotional with the type of response that the staff of the hospital gave to stop the fire, adding that they climbed the roof to stop the fire.
He listed the major damaged as the ceiling, the long span roofings, mattresses, some equipment, and the central air conditions, which he said was actually the main cause of the fire.
Alonge who was emotional while addressing journalists, said it would have been a greater damage if the sensitive rooms in the emergency department, resuscitation room, x-ray department, the operating theatre, were all affected.
"The central air conditioning system have his base in the basement of the emergency department, barely two weeks ago we just decided to remove the central air conditioning system because it was becoming a nuisance to the hospital, and if we have not remove it, it would have affected the whole hospital because the entire air condition insulator goes all the way round the hospital and it would have been a bigger disaster.
"Also, because it happened at a time that the staffs were just dosing and were able to assist in stopping the fire" he said
Alonge said the have make arrangements to attend to Emergencies and resuscitate them at the general patients departments next door. He noted that his staff are working tirelessly to bring the situation back to normaky and attend to emergencies.
By: Ademola BabaIola in Ibadan
This Day News
ABUJA: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
PORTHARCOURT: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
LAGOS: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
STOP paying for airtime and electricity, Let your phone pay its bills with ScreenT
You may also like
Comrade Lemii Christian Emerges Chairman of NANNM Rivers State Branch in Historic Victory
PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA Following the long awaited National Association of N…
FG Supports Robotic Surgery Expansion to Reduce Medical Tourism
Nigeria is taking another step toward strengthening specialised healthcare …
Complete Knee Replacement Rehabilitation Package in Lagos
Knee replacement surgery is a major step toward pain relief and improved mo…
NAMDA threatens strike over unpaid medical lecturers’ allowances
The Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) has warned…
Resident Doctors Signal End to Strike Threat After High-Level Talks with Gbajabiamila
The threat of a nationwide indefinite strike by the Nigerian Association of…
