With over 100 lives at stake, smoke drives panic at Bengaluru hospital

Bengaluru: At first, there were no visible flames inside the Mahabodhi Burns Centre at Victoria Hospital. But the lights went out, and slowly, the smoke began to blanket the corridors. It was this choking haze — not the fire itself — that triggered fear and forced an urgent evacuation in the early hours of Tuesday.

"The main concern wasn't just the fire, but the smoke. Burns patients are extremely vulnerable to respiratory distress, so evacuation had to be immediate," Dr Ramesh Krishna, dean and director of BMCRI, which oversees Victoria hospital, said.

There were more than 100 people inside the building at the time — patients, their attendants, visiting cases made up for nearly 100 of them — according to Dr Yogeshwarappa Patil, head of the department of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Among them were 26 in-patients, including ICU cases and children, many of whom had open wounds still undergoing treatment.

Dr Divya GS, the doctor who first spotted the fire, said: "We tried using fire extinguishers, but it spread fast, especially since the room had wooden panels and furniture." But once a ‘code red' was activated, the response was swift. Staff from across departments — nursing, support, security and doctors — fanned out to evacuate the building.

"Our first priority was to shift patients. Some were carried on oxygen-connected trolleys, others on wheelchairs or buggies. Attendants who could walk helped too," Dr Patil said. The ICU patients were moved with extreme care and fortunately, none was on ventilators.

The patients were relocated to a nearby ‘mass casualty' ward. While arrangements are being made for OPD patients who require regular dressing, staff are also addressing the emotional trauma of patients.

"Many are already dealing with the physical impact of burns. The last thing they needed was another fire. About 40 come for dressing from time to time after being discharged from the hospital apart from three to four new cases of minor burns daily. We are now making arrangements for them to be taken care of," Dr Smitha Segu, head of the Burns Centre, said.