Quick-thinking staff member puts out hospital fire

Hospital staff members have been praised for their rapid and effective response to a fire in the sterilising unit in Timaru Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on Monday afternoon.

Fire crews from Washdyke, Timaru, and Temuka were called to the scene, late yesterday morning, after reports of the electrical fire at the top of the building.

Southern Fire Communications shift manager Riwai Grace said the fire was contained in a sterilising unit, and had been put out with a fire extinguisher. Crews then ventilated the area.

South Canterbury District Health Board director of clinical services and chief medical officer Dr Steve Earnshaw said the fire was quickly extinguished by a member of staff who then called for help.

‘‘We are very proud of the way our staff have managed the incident.’’

The fire was identified by a staff member of the ICU, who had put the fire out with a fire extinguisher and then called the fire service, Earnshaw said.

Four patients had been moved across to the surgical ward, he said.

‘‘The response was very rapid and effective.’’

The ICU ward was dirty and contaminated with smoke and would need to be cleaned before patients were returned, but by yesterday afternoon the hospital had returned to normal function, with the exception of the ICU ward, Earnshaw said.

There were ‘‘arrangements in place with our neighbours’’ at the Canterbury and Southern district health boards, in case ICU patients did have to be transferred, he said.

Mid and South Canterbury Fire Risk manager Murray Cairns said it was especially important ‘‘look- ing at what’s happened in the UK’’ recently that staff knew their evacuation protocol for their patients and themselves and also knew how to use a fire extinguisher if need be.

It was ‘‘lucky’’ the fire had not been any worse but if it had been then sprinklers would have helped to put out the flames as well.

He said if using a fire extinguisher was not an option people should ‘‘just get out and shut the door’’ and call the fire service.

Meanwhile a Timaru resident was ready to tie sheets together to escape out of a window during the fire.

Hospital visitor Celia WarrenShrimpton said she and another woman on the third floor had hatched a plan to evacuate the building if need be.

‘‘I said ‘ come on, let’s get all these sheets knotted together and do a Rapunzel and tie them together and get out the window.’’