Two newborns die of burns in hospital

KOLKATA: Two newborns died reportedly of burns in a warmer meant to heal them. The incident has left the parents shattered and Kolkatans fuming.
Shocking negligence at the Medical College Hospital Calcutta (MCHC) claimed the two babies -five and four days old. The health department dragged unwilling feet to probe the incident only after parents of one of the babies lodged a complaint with the MCHC authorities.
A committee has been constituted to probe the incident.
The two babies died on November 21 at the sick newborn care unit (SNCU).One of them, an infant girl, was born in the hospital on November 17, while the boy was born the next day. Both developed jaundice and were put on the same radiant warmer along with a third newborn.
The third baby, on whom the tempe rature probe to monitor heat was attached, was taken away by the mother leaving the other two without the probe on the night on November 20. Shockingly , no nurses or doctors took note of this.
Mohammad Shakib and Afreen Kha tun of 83 Abdul Halim Lane were over the moon when their firstborn arrived on November 18. The shattered couple is now struggling to come to terms with the disastrous incident.
"When my sister-in-law went to breastfeed the baby on the night of November 20, the baby's body was excessively hot and he did not suckle. When she told the nurses to check, they told her to go back to the ward saying they would take care of it," said Saba Javed.
Next morning, when Saba went to see her nephew, she found the body stiff.When asked, the doctors said the baby was sinking and they were trying to resuscitate him. By 2pm, the family was informed that the baby had died.
"The baby was roasted alive. The doctors and nurses on duty should be booked for negligence. How could they be so insensitive?" said Mohammad Javed, Saba's husband.
"I was shocked to find my child extremely hot on the night before he died. When I complained to the doctors and nurses on duty they told me that the baby had to continue in the warmer as it would keep her well. How could they not sense something amiss? My baby would have been alive if she had been in my arms," said Sonam Badgi of Uttarpara.
Sources in MCHC said that the three babies had to be kept under the same warmer due to the excessive number of children requiring the radiant warmers. But they said the nurses should have been on alert once they found the third baby , on whom the probe thermometer was attached, was removed from the warmer.
"The standard practice is one warmer for one baby as the temperature required varies from one newborn to another. If the need arises to keep more than one baby under the same warmer, those monitoring the babies have to be extremely careful to monitor the temperature. Both low as well as high heat is detrimental for the infant," said Dr Suchandra Mukherjee, neonatology head at SSKM Hospital.
SNCU, known as the Purulia model worldwide, was first established in Purulia District Hospital and is a pride of the state. The model has been replicated in many states across the country . SSKM Hospital was the first to set up this unit after Purulia. Over the past three years, the government is on a drive to open at least 48 such units in different hospitals.
"This number game without ensuring that safety mechanism is in place is a dangerous trend. You can copy an idea, but what about the soul? SNCU is a highly specialized unit requiring trained manpower. The state has been on a spree to open such units without ensuring quality. The planners must be questioned," said Dr Arun Singh, a neonatologist who was a part of the team that developed the Purulia model.
Numerous calls to Dr Tridib Banerjee, who heads the special task force on child health, went unanswered.