Quick action saves Ipoh hospital
IPOH: Forty-seven patients admitted to the 5B male medical ward at Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun here were evacuated following a short circuit on Wednesday night.
The patients were transferred to other wards following the 1.15am incident.
Ipoh Fire and Rescue Department Zone 1 officer, Mohd Khairul Jamil said they received a distress call from the hospital at about 1.17am and a team of firemen were immediately sent to the site.
“There was a fire at one of the beds and it was put out by hospital staff using fire extinguishers,” he said.
Initial investigations revealed the fire occurred due to faulty electrical wiring and a leak in the oxygen duct fixed at the patient’s bed head panel.
“Only about 5% of the bed cubicle was affected ... the patients were moved to other wards temporarily,” he added.
The fire did not cause any damage to the ward’s building structure. Firemen are now stationed at the hospital to ensure there will be no further breakouts.
Bernama quoted Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah saying that the short circuit originated from a wall plug beside the beds. No patient or hospital staff were injured in the incident.
Ipoh Fire and Rescue Department chief P. Samasuvam praised the hospital’s staff for their swift action in cutting off the electricity and gas supply to the ward.
Just last month, a fire broke out at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru resulting in the deaths of six patients at an intensive care unit.
They were among the seven patients in the southern ICU on the second floor of the hospital.
They were critically-ill patients who were dependent on ventilators and could not be moved without their beds.
One patient was rescued by firefighters who rushed there after being notified at 8.56am.