Three patients died at the Jalandhar civil hospital on Sunday evening, with family members alleging the deaths were caused by a technical fault in the oxygen supply at the trauma centre.
Hospital authorities, however, rejected the claims, maintaining that although there was a slight dip in oxygen supply, backup cylinders were activated immediately to ensure treatment was not disrupted.
Medical superintendent Raj Kumar confirmed that a nine-member committee has been formed to look into the incident and is expected to submit its report within two days.
Among the deceased, one patient had been admitted following a snake bite, another was being treated for a drug overdose, and the third was suffering from tuberculosis. All three were on ventilators at the time of the incident.
Senior medical officer Vinay Anand told reporters that a technical fault had indeed caused the oxygen pressure to drop slightly but insisted that there was no interruption in care.
“There was a technical fault because of which the oxygen pressure dipped a little bit,” Anand said. “But we had sufficient backup oxygen cylinders, which were made functional within no time. Moreover, the technical fault at the main oxygen plant was rectified during the same time.”
On the allegations from family members that the patients died due to a lack of oxygen, Anand said the claims were not accurate.
Asked about the exact cause of death, Anand said, “The reasons have been mentioned by the doctors in the patients’ files.”
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